While Others Raised a White Flag
by Lux's Sister
Summary: Some raised a fist. The rebels have barely escaped Order 66, but the danger is far from over. Aching to get back at the Empire for a thousand wrongs, they must stand together as a new syndicate. That is, if they manage to remain on speaking terms with their companions. [Sequel to While Others Fell To Darkness].
1. Your Fault!

**WHILE OTHERS RAISED A WHITE FLAG**

This is another installment in the "While Others" universe. If you have not read the other three stories, _please go read them now._

Cast of Characters _(Italics indicate an OC)_

Ahsoka Tano

Lux Bonteri

Saw and Steela Gerrera

Mina Bonteri – Also known as "BonScary," because God help the fool who gets between her and her children.

General Tandin- the current King of Onderon

Captain Rex

Hutch St. James- a former Onderon Rebel who is obsessed with University of Onderon sports.

 _John Bonteri- Mina's kindhearted husband._

 _Sierra Bonteri- John and Mina's daughter, three years Lux's junior._

 _Hero St. James – A former Onderon rebel who loves to cook, Hutch's wife._

Explanation of the AU

It's been a while since I completed "While Others Fell To Darkness," so here is a quick crash course in the AU that this story is set in.

One: Lux Bonteri's parents and Steela Gerrera are all alive due to a government program called the Lazarus Project. The aim of this project was to distract the people after Order 66 and get them on the side of the Empire.

Two: While Tarkin was revealed to be behind the Project, King Dendup was a key player. For his treason, he has been deposed and General Tandin is now the King of Onderon.

Three: Lux and Ahsoka are married, as are Hutch and Hero

Four: Currently, Order 66 has just been activated and Captain Rex arrives to "blow the whistle".

Now without further ado, I present "While Others Raised a White Flag".

 **CHAPTER ONE**

 _Is it possible that any villainy should be so dear?_

 _-Much Ado About Nothing_

 _"The Republic's been overthrown. In its place is an Empire," Rex sobs. "All the Jedi are gone. All my brothers are murderers. You're the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker. They want you gone. And the rebels are too big a risk for them to leave alive. You have to run."_

 _He pushes Ahsoka and Lux forward._

 _"Now."_

….

Lux ends up behind the wheel, driving like a madman to his parents' house. Ahsoka's in the backseat with Rex, on the comm with Steela.

"I don't know what's going on," Ahsoka blubbers. "Rex says that the clones killed Anakin and all the other Jedi! What are we going to do, Steela?"

 _"Calm down, Ahsoka."_

Ahsoka flushes. "Don't you think I'm kriffing trying to?"she yells.

Rex grabs the comm before this can escalate, and very calmly tells Steela what's going on.

"Head Advisor Gerrera, you need to take the king and get out of the city. We'll regroup at your old outpost in the jungle, _hopefully_ no one will think to look for us there."

….

Wilhuff Tarkin rubs his wrists, rejoicing in the absence of cuffs.

A stormtrooper escorts him to his old office, and he shrewdly takes in every detail. The whole place has been scrubbed from floor to ceiling, but otherwise untouched from when he left for the Citadel.

 _It's good to be back,_ he thinks before ordering an LEP servant droid to fetch him a cup of caf.

He sits down at his old desk and activates his holoscreen.

The meddlesome Jedi are all but gone, and it is his task to destroy the last remnants of the Order.

If everything had gone according to plan, he would have stood each one of his Lazaruses up on a pedestal, watching as they told the people how the Jedi killed them, and the Sith brought them back to life. The Project would be water, to help the people swallow the bitter pill of the new Empire.

But he would make do with the current circumstances.

"You could have been luminaries," he said. "It's unfortunate I have to kill you both."

Tarkin activates his holocom and puts out an order. 

"Commander, it has come time for the Project to be ended. Eliminate the Lazaruses."

 _"Yes, sir."_

….

Bethany Squadron gives their report hours later.

 _"Sir, we have eliminated the Twi'Lek."_

Tarkin mentally crosses that Lazarus off his list, but he has a feeling as to why the trooper isn't mentioning the most troublesome Lazaruses.

"Very well. Now, what of the Bonteri family and Steela Gerrera?"

He spits out the last name.

The trooper swallows hard.

 _"They have fled Iziz along with the King. We have yet to locate them."_

The look that Tarkin gives lets him know that he'd better bring their heads on a silver tray as quickly as he can.

….

"General Matthew Cooper, you are being demoted."

Cooper straightens behind his desk and fixes the messenger with a withering glare.

"Under whose orders?"

A new person walks through the door.

"Mine. Cooper, get out of my office."

Cooper stands, white-knuckling his desk.

"No." he says. "I won't let you take charge of this facility after what you did to that _child,_ and all the prisoners before her!"

"Admirable, Cooper." Tor says, straightening his uniform. "You've finally grown a backbone."

"You son of a-."

And those are the last words Cooper says before Tor and the messenger shoot him dead.

….

In his left arm, King Tandin holds Steela as she weeps over the realization that Tarkin had meant to use her to smooth over this slaughter.

In his right he holds Saw, numb from shock and unwilling to let a single tear flow.

(Come to think of it, the only time someone has seen Saw cry was at Steela's fake funeral. There were no tears of joy when he found her. Just shock, like now.)

But Tandin is weeping as well, for the people he was forced to leave behind. He knows the Empire will place a cruel king, maybe even Dendup, on the throne, and his people will suffer.

Thank God they had the sense to leave Talia in charge of the former rebels. The people at least will have a fighting chance.

Tandin takes a deep breath.

"Steela, if you're right, then we need to find out what else he was planning to do. It had to be larger than the Lazarus Project. There had to be someone higher up than Tarkin, someone pulling the puppet strings."

Saw shrugs out of Tandin's embrace.

"We'll find them. And then we're going to kill them." He mutters. "I'm going to get Bonteri. As soon as Ahsoka's done being hysterical, then we're going to figure out who the Bigger Kahuna is."

 **SAW**

Settling in to the old rebel outpost is the easy part.

We only had two places to sleep: the room for the men, and the room for the women. Lux, Hutch, Tandin, Rex, and I take over the men's barracks. The girls set up shop in the women's. Easy as pie. The hardest part was moving two beds into two storage rooms: one for John and Mina, the other for Tandin.

Not really because we want to separate them. It's more out of necessity. Stressful situations bode for a lot of arguing between us and the last person we want to deal with is Mina.

 _Oh Mina. We all love you to death, but you scare us sometimes._

Tandin plops his bag of belongings down on the bed. "Thank you for moving this here, Saw and Hutch."

I nod. "No problem, sire."

"I'm not King anymore." He says forlornly.

Just then, a racket arises from the girls' room.

There is a crash.

Then somebody (Hero probably) calls someone else a clumsy slut.

Yep, only Hero would say something like "clumsy slut."

I grab one of Tandin's pillows and wrap it around my head to cover my ears. The Republic is gone, we've had to run for our lives, and I do _not_ want to deal with girl drama on top of that.

But Tandin extends his hand to me, in the universal gesture for rock-paper-scissors.

"May the best man win."

….

Tandin picked paper. Of course he picked paper. Steela must have told him that I always pick rock.

I'm mumbling about cheating at rock-paper-scissors when I meet Lux and Hutch going down the hallway.

"Are we on Onderon, or the set of _Mean Girls_?" Hutch asks.

"I don't even know."

We bump fists. All three of us have each other's backs, ever since Steela's fake funeral.

"Let's do this."

Lux knocks on the bedroom door.

"Is everything okay in there?"

There's a scuffle, and the door opens.

"Thank the Lord," Sierra mutters, ushering us in.

"What's happening?" Hutch asks.

Sierra doesn't have to answer. She just points.

Dozens of recipe cards are strewn across the floor. Hero and Steela are on all fours picking them up and sticking them in a card organizer. On the other side of the room, Ahsoka lies on her bed with her back to us.

"Steela knocked Hero's recipe box over and it spilled everywhere." Sierra explains.

Lux crosses the room, careful not to step on any of Hero's cards. He makes his way over to Ahsoka and rubs the place between his wife's shoulder blades in a circle.

"Are you tired, honey?"

Ahsoka turns her head. "No. I have a headache."

"Do you want something to drink? A hot towel? A cuddle buddy?"

Ahsoka puts her head back in its original place. "No."

"Well whenever you're ready, we're going to move the bed into another room."

Ahsoka rolls over. "In that case, I'm ready now. I've shared a room with Steela for a year, and she snores."

Steela looks up. "Well, you talk in your sleep."

"And Hutch steals blankets." Hero supplies. "Either way, I still have recipe cards to pick up."

Steela rolls her eyes and continues picking up the cards. Hutch gets down to help.

"I never thought we'd be stuck in here again." He mutters.

"Me neither." Steela agrees.

Hutch mutters something that I can't hear, but Steela sure can.

Her head snaps up.

"Care to repeat that, Hutch?"

"I said that we all know whose fault it is that we're here." Hutch says, louder.

"Of course we do. It's Tarkin's."

"If Tarkin hadn't been fed a continuous stream of Lazaruses, he would have gotten antsy and made a mistake!" Hutch says.

Steela straightens up. "Are you telling me this is _my_ fault for falling off a cliff?"

"No! It's just that-."

"If it's anyone's fault that I fell, it's Dendup's! He pushed me!"

"But who shot the gunship down?" Sierra asks.

Silence.

Then I raise my hand.

"Then it's your fault!" Lux shouts.

I jump to my feet. "Hold on. I may have shot that gunship down, but I wasn't at the top of the cliff with a rifle that could have taken out the cannon that shot Ahsoka. If Lux did what he was supposed to do and, I don't know, _looked over the gunship,_ then Ahsoka wouldn't have dropped Steela and she wouldn't be a Lazarus."

"So it's your fault!" Sierra interjects.

"What?" Lux asks. "No!"

"Yes it is!" Sierra snaps.

Lux's face flushes and he takes a step toward his sister. "There wouldn't even have been a rebellion if you hadn't overslept the last morning on Raxus. If you hadn't needed me to drive you to school, I would have been home when the Lazarus Project came for Mom and Dad and I could have stopped it. Mom would still be the Senator, she would have taken Rash off the throne and knocked some sense into Dendup and everything would have been fine!"

Hutch, Hero, Steela and I flank Lux, boxing Sierra in. "Then it's your fault!"

"Wait a minute!" Sierra cries, hiding behind Steela like a human shield.

Steela spins around to face her. "If you hadn't overslept…"

"If Lux and I had been home they might have killed us."

Lux and I start pointing at each other. "If you had only done your job…"

"If you hadn't shot that gunship down…"

And then Hero butts in, ending the stalemate.

"If a certain _someone_ had let Tarkin fall into a lava pit, there would be no Lazarus Project in the first place!"

All eyes except for Lux's go to Ahsoka.

"If she hadn't saved Tarkin, none of this would be happening!"

Ahsoka stutters, trying to think up a way to throw blame onto somebody else, but she can't think up another until…

"If Tarkin hadn't been ordered around by whoever was in charge of this whole thing, then it wouldn't have mattered whether I saved him or now. So he's responsible. It's his fault!"

The entire room is silenced.

"Considering that, I am suddenly in the mood for revenge." Lux says.

"Not. Again." Ahsoka says, rubbing her temples. "I have a screaming headache, and the last thing I need is for you to go running off to Death Watch."

"I don't mean that." He explains. "I mean, we figure out who Tarkin's boss was, and then hurt him wherever it hurts most."

"How are we going to find out who Tarkin's boss was?" Hero asks.

But I already understand.

"The same way we found Tarkin. Let's get out the documents, people. We're doing some profiling."

 **A/N: And here we go again! This is the sequel to "While Others Fell To Darkness" that you all voted for in the poll.**

 **I would like to thank 082 Martian Scout. Without him, this story would still be an outline – an over-humorous, farcical outline. So a thousand thanks to you, for your much-valued assistance.**

 **Another thing that would be very appreciated are reviews! So please leave your thoughts in the review box on your way out.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	2. We Find the Puppet Master

**CHAPTER TWO**

 **LUX**

Back when we rebels were still getting ourselves together, we had some fleeting free time. One of our favorite things to do in said free time was to watch a cop show called "Criminal Minds".

The show was about police officers who solved crimes by figuring out what the perpetrator was like. From the evidence, they could tell if the criminal was a man or a woman, how old they were, what kind of job they had, and lots of other things. That type of science is called "profiling."

Don't get me wrong. Sometimes, that show was downright disturbing. But it was interesting, and a lot of fun for us all to watch together.

"I swear," Dono would say, cramming popcorn into her mouth as some guy was brutally murdered on the screen. "The cops are going to show up any minute now and save him."

I looked over at her, revolted. "How can you eat while watching this?"

Dono shrugged. "Doesn't gross me out."

Saw claims that while Tandin was interrogating him, he used tactics from the show to get Tandin on his side. According to Tandin, Saw's efforts extended to muttering "profiling" while Tandin told him to drink his energy juice.

Either way, we've used this to catch the Big Kahuna. We can do it again.

We fall back into our old positions. Steela takes point.

"Sierra and Hero, get on the computer and start digging. Hutch and Saw, examine the old documents for the Lazarus Project. Lux, you and I are going to put together a new profile."

"What am I looking for?" Sierra asks.

"Anything we missed." I suggest. "Something or someone who was in the Lazarus Project."

"And how are we doing to do that?"

"The Empire isn't on the planet yet, so my password to the Senatorial database should still work." I tell her. "It's Mom and Dad's anniversary."

Hero sits down at the computer. "Hey, we found Oz. We can do this no problem."

"I guess," Sierra says flatly, typing in the password.

 _Good luck, sis._

I sit down at the table next to Steela. "Quick question, Steel. Where's Ahsoka?"

"Headache. I personally think it's more than that, but whatever she says." She shrugs. "Okay, so about our new profile. I vote we call this guy the Puppet Master."

 _Beats "Big Kahuna."_ I shrug. "Due to the targeting of women, we can safely say the Puppet Master is a man. He's probably a human, and has a high-powered career since Tarkin was willing to work for him. We should try politicians and the military."

Steela nods. "He clearly hates the Jedi. Combine that with hatred of women, and we can assume that he is bigoted and narrow-minded. He might have an affiliation with a hate group or human supremacy."

"If he holds those views, then someone may have brought a discrimination lawsuit against him." I suggest.

Over on the other end of the room, Hutch and Saw pore over the documents.

Hero's fingers hammer over the keyboard.

"All right, we have a basic profile." I say. "Now all we have to do is run it against politicians and high-ranking military officers."

Steela snorts. "Human, male, bigoted politicians and officers. Yeah, that'll be real easy."

She has a point. People in that profile are a dime a dozen.

I sigh.

 _We are getting nowhere._

"Hey Hero," Hutch says, standing up. "Can you and trace a comm number for me?"

Hero minimizes her current window. "Shoot."

Hutch rattles off a string of numbers and Hero plugs them in.

"It's a Republic number," she says finally. "And it's definitely our guy."

"Who is it?"

"Here's the kicker." She says. "It's registered to someone named Winston Smith."

I resist the urge to bang my head against the table. Winston Smith is the main character in the book _1984._

"So he's the literary type." Steela mutters.

"All the payments on the burner were made with cash." Hero notes.

"Luckily," Hutch notes. "That's not as much of a dead end as you'd think."

Hero looks quizzically at her husband. "Huh?"

"All credits have a serial number so they can be tracked." Hutch explains. "I'm betting that the guy used money from his paycheck to buy the phone. If we track the serial numbers on the credits, we can find the bank they were issued to."

"And then run the profile."

Hero rolls her eyes. "You know, how about we put Hutch on computer duty? I'll help Saw look over the documents. You already know I have a good eye."

Hutch and Hero switch places, and his fingers fly over the keyboard.

"I'm picking the newest credit." He explains, code flying across the screen. "Looking it up in the Galactic Reserve…and we've got it! This credit was shipped to the Bank of Coruscant."

"No offense Hutch, but you are a cashier at Reddy Mart." Saw says. "How did you learn how to do this?"

Hutch shrugs. "The registers are basically computers, so I did this with the cash in my drawer when I got bored. The other cashiers and I would have competitions where we would find two items with the same price. They taught me to cross-reference the shipping manifests and the stock records."

"Well." I comment.

"Unfortunately," Hutch says, "Bank of Coruscant is very, very popular and there's no way to tell which person received the money. So, we're stuck."

I grab the profile Steela's scribbled down on a datapad. "Cross-reference the list of customers with politicians and military leaders."

"We're down to 127 customers. Keep going."

"He might have been sued for discrimination."

Hutch rolls his eyes. "Seventy-three. Every bigwig gets sued for that. Next!"

"Try suits that were settled or dropped before the hearing." Steela says. "A guy like this can't have a court battle tarnish his image."

Hutch turns around in his chair. "That brings us down to fifty. Got anything else?"

There's the distinct clearing of a throat from the doorway.

 _Oh Force, please not Tandin. Or my parents._

But (wonder of wonders), it isn't. It's Captain Rex.

"What in the universe?"

Steela and Hutch are too frustrated to answer, so I do.

"We're trying to find out who Tarkin's boss is."

Rex stares at me.

And stares at me.

And stares some more.

"Captain..?"

"Emperor Palpatine is behind Order 66."

Remember what I said about banging my head against the table. Saw does just that. And leaves it there.

"You could have just asked." Rex says quietly. "It's Palapatine. He…he's a Sith Lord."

I look down at the profile.

Human male with a high-powered career? Check.

Hates Jedi? Well, the Sith sure are their sworn enemies.

Bigoted? Ditto.

Sheev Palapatine is a perfect fit.

We just went through all this profiling and computer digging stuff…for nil.

 _Cheer up, Lux._ My common sense says. _You still need to find the rest of the Lazarus Project's workings if you want to slow down this carnage at all._

The other half of my brain proclaims: _You kriffing idiot. You should have just asked Rex in the first place._

I breathe in through my nose, out through my mouth.

"Thanks, Rex."

"Ahsoka's making coffee." Rex says. "She, ah, she wants to know if you guys want any."

"I think we all need coffee." Hero admits.

"Can she spike mine?" Saw asks, voice muffled by the table.

"Sorry," Rex says, the shadow of a smile playing at his lips. "We don't have Moonshine around to get us some whiskey."

Hero shuffles her feet.

"Well, actually…"

 **A/N: Because we all know they would take the complicated route before it occurred to them to just ask.**

 **Thank you to starwarshobbitfics for your lovely review! And speaking of reviews, please drop one on your way out. They make me happy and keep me motivated in terms of getting chapters published. And not to worry, the tension will be ratcheting up quickly in the next couple of chapters.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	3. The Ten Demandments

**CHAPTER THREE**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Clone Wars.

 **STEELA**

One of the first things I did when the rebellion moved into this outpost was call a meeting and tack a piece of flimsi on the wall.

While I was unfurling it, most people thought it was a map for a tactical briefing. Others thought it was a flag, a crest if you will, for our group.

But when they saw the head of the poster reading THE TEN DEMANDMENTS, complaints started coming from the audience.

"Come on, Steela! We aren't kindergarteners."

"Shouldn't we be going over battle plans and not a list of rules?"

The list reads thus:

 _THE TEN DEMANDMENTS_

 _One: Thou shall not enter the opposite sex's sleeping quarters after 1900 hours._

My reasoning behind that rule was simple: we had a sparse enough group as it was. The last thing we needed was for some girl to be sidelined because she had a baby on board.

 _Two: Thou shall not smoke. If thou has a habit, thou shall use one of the Nicoderm patches in the bathroom._

The droids don't care if you have to stop and catch your breath on the battlefield. 

_Three: Thou shall not do drugs._

Ditto the droids.

 _Four: Thou shall not buy more than one bottle of alcohol for all of us._

They would have complained, but then someone decided to just appreciate that I didn't ban booze altogether.

 _Five: Thou shall not leave this outpost._

 _Six: Thou shall tell somebody if you deviate from schedule._

For obvious reasons…

 _Seven: Thou shall not go near the animals unless you know how to handle them._

We already had _one_ numbskull break his arm falling off a Daglo…

 _Eight: Thou shall not prank the others._

If Lux ever finds the person who put shaving cream in his pillow…oh, scratch that. It was probably Saw.

 _Nine: Thou shall not hoard junk food. Just put it in the kitchen so everyone can enjoy it._

I was getting a little tired of Dono squirreling away all the candy bars.

 _Ten: If thou has a problem with any of these rules, thou shall take it up with Steela or Saw._

Nobody ever put Ten into action. Sure, I got called a "sugar Nazi" when somebody forked over their bag of Twizzlers. Saw stood right inside the threshold of the women's sleeping quarters after 1900. But otherwise, not a problem.

So when Hero tells me that there is, in fact, a whole lot of contraband hidden in this outpost, I don't believe it.

"What?"

Hero rolls her eyes. "Steela, did you honestly expect that everyone would follow your rules?"

"Well why didn't they take it with them?" I sputter.

"We kind of had to leave in a hurry."

"Hero, exactly what is in here?"

Hero shrugs. "I actually don't know. It's not like we advertised it. We were paranoid that someone would snitch. All I know is where my wine cooler is."

It takes thorough ripping-apart of the outpost to find all the stuff. Just when we think we're done, Captain Rex shows us his expertise at managing barracks and finds another object.

All in all, our scavenging mission yields five bottles of wine and hard liquor, a six-pack of beer, three packs of death sticks, candy and potato chips out the wazoo, and evidence that two people were planning on breaking the First Demandment.

"Hero, why did you feel the need to bring your wine?" I could never forget that stuff. It's pink, and tastes like sugar in a bottle.

Hero shrugs. "I never liked the stuff you got." _Maybe because it had actual alcohol content._

"Hey," Saw says. "There's an upside. We have booze now."

He grabs Hero's wine and pours himself a glass, and after dishing out the same for the rest of us: "Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka shakes her head. "No thanks. I still have a headache."

"Suit yourself." Saw takes a sip of the wine and almost spits it out. "Hero, how can you drink this stuff?"

Hutch pours half his glass of wine back into the bottle and adds a splash of vodka. "This makes it better." He advises.

I've gotten used to Hero's wine, so I sip at my glass.

"All right, so we know that the Puppet Master is none other than our friendly neighborhood Chancellor." Lux says bitterly.

"Emperor," Rex corrects.

"Whatever position he holds, he's still the same person psychologically." Lux says. "I think. That's how it always works on the show, right?"

That's when it hits us that our knowledge of profiling extends to ten episodes of a TV show.

Sierra shuts the fridge. She's too young to drink, so she holds a can of soda.

"Lux, don't kill me. But should we get Dad?"

Lux seemingly weighs the possibilities. "Maybe. He could be helpful."

"Helpful with what?"

John Bonteri stands in the doorway. In his hand is his favorite coffee mug.

"Helpful fixing the coffee machine." Sierra deadpans.

John nods. "Right," He says, walking into the room. As he passes my seat, he swipes the profile off the table and thumbs through it. "Is that why Steela has a basic profile in her hands, with the word 'Palpatine' in huge letters and underlined twice?"

"Um-."

John puts a finger to her lips. "Save it, sweetheart. I'm a prison guard. I'm _trained_ to detect lies. But what's more, is that I am Dad. And I have super Dad senses. Both tell me that you are lying."

"Okay, fine." Lux interrupts. "Dad, we need you to help us hurt the Empire."

John gives him a look as if to say _and why in the name of the force would I do that?_

"Lux, that isn't the most prudent of ideas you've come up with."

"It's sort of our only option, Mr. Bonteri." Saw says. I wince. John hates being called "Mr. Bonteri." He says it makes him feel old.

John sighs. "Oh, what the heck? You'll just go ahead and do it even if I say no. At least this way you'll have some decent information." He sits down, thumbing through the profile.

"Here's the thing about people like this." He says. "The number one thing that matters to them is control. If they lose it, they can't focus on anything else."

"Okay, so we have to take away the Emperor's control." Hero says. "It's not exactly like we can dethrone him like we did Rash and Dendup."

"No," Ahsoka says, and I can almost see the lightbulb going off over her head. . "It's much easier than that."

"How?"

"Easy," she says, "We take away the Jedi."

 **AHSOKA**

Steela stares at me **.** "Ahsoka, are you serious?"

"Completely. Why wouldn't I be?"

Hutch clears his throat. "Um, I'm gonna go through the computer again…Hero, do you wanna come with?"

Hero stands up, puts her glass in the sink, and they get the heck out of the room.

"I'm going with them!" Sierra squeaks, ducks past her father, and follows Hutch and Hero.

"How are we going to do that?" Steela asks.

"Haven't you ever heard of the Underground Railroad?"

She blinks. "What?"

Lux clears his throat. "It was a network of routes and safe houses that slaves used to escape to free territories."

"I know what the Underground Railroad is, Lux. I meant 'What does the Underground Railroad have to do with this?'" Steela sighs, complete with an eye roll.

"Well, what if we became the Underground Railroad, version 2.0?" I suggest.

This time, everyone has the same reaction as Steela. It seems to take conscious effort for Lux to swallow a sip of wine.

"We would help Jedi escape," I clarify.

"How would we do that?" Saw asks.

"The same way we helped the Lazaruses."

"We found the Lazaruses because my sister got arrested." Lux says. "It was sheer luck that she was put in Steela's cell."

Steela raises her finger in a "hold on" gesture. "Ahsoka, I speak from experience. It's pretty scary when droids throw an unconscious kid into your cell."

Saw stands up. "Should I go get Hutch, Hero, and Sierra from the other room? They were the ones who found Steela and the other Lazarus in the first place."

"I don't mean that." I say crabbily. "I mean, we take care of fugitive Jedi." I point at John. "He's done it before."

"True," John agrees. "I for one, think it's a good idea. You can hurt the Empire and help out the Jedi."

"Like they helped the rebellion." _Maybe Steela will respond to a guilt trip._

"It's a good idea. We just have to iron out the logistics before we dive headlong into this."

Suddenly, I have a stroke of inspiration.

"Steela, if Tarkin's been released, then the Empire might have released the Mary Sues along with him."

Steela gulps. _Oh, I've hit a chink in the armor._

"Dozens of anatomically impossible Mary Sues," Saw baits, having caught on. "Hundreds. _Thousands._ All with a completely justified plan to avenge the death of-."

"Saw…"

But Saw goes right on ahead. _"Velvet Sparkles Kitty Giggles Rainbow Sprinkles Gerrera!"_

"Now are you on board?" I ask.

Steela nods.

"Before we can do anything," Lux says, "We need a ship big enough to house all of us. It's only a matter of time before the Empire tracks us to this outpost."

"I have money," Steela says. "A pretty decent sum of money. If we all go in together, we can get one no problem."

Sierra knocks on the door frame.

"Actually, there's a problem." She says, voice full of dread. "You don't have money anymore."

"What do you mean I don't have money?"

Sierra shuffles her feet. "Hutch, Hero and I were transferring our money into a Nubian bank account, and we found something. That court order that stuck Tarkin with your medical bills? It was overridden. A contract resurfaced, and it's stating that you're responsible for your own medical bills."

"How is that even legal?" Steela demands.

"Um…it's got your signature on it."

Steam is practically coming out of Steela's ears. "I didn't sign jack! That's a forgery!"

"Hutch compared it with the one on the check you wrote for your bridesmaid dress. It's your signature. But I think it looks shaky. Like you weren't in your right mind."

I smack my forehead. "Oh man, the Lazarus Project. They probably had you sign it when you were drugged."

Steela swears. "But that's over four million credits. I don't have four million credits!"

"Between all of us, we do."

John leans forward. "What do you mean, 'all of us'?"

"I mean our money is gone, too."

 _Tarkin took our money?_

"Hutch managed to save his and Hero's joint checking account and one of Mom's savings. But otherwise, he has everything."

If Tarkin robbed Steela, took John and Mina's estate, and added Tandin's wealth, then he is _way_ over four million credits. "How did he get his hands on _our_ stuff?"

Hero's voice filters from the other room. _"That low-down, dirty slimeball sued for mental anguish!"_

"How?" Lux demands.

Sierra laughs nervously. "He says that we caused him serious mental anguish when we called him out during Ahsoka's trial, and then by sending him to the Citadel."

"How much money do we have, total?" John asks.

Hutch rolls his chair over to the door. "The bank account was one of the smaller savings, and Hero and I are basically living paycheck to paycheck. So all in all…two thousand credits."

My jaw drops. There's no way we can get a ship for two thousand credits. Not even a junker like the _Twilight._

Just as I'm about to scream, Lux puts a hand on my shoulder. "We'll get the ship. Ahsoka knows some mechanic tricks. I'm sure she could teach us."

"Right," I nod, biting my lip when my stomach turns.

"Excuse me," I blurt out, and speed-walk back to Lux's and my bathroom.

 **A/N: And so we have chapter three.**

 **A note about the money: In this story, one Republic credit equals one US dollar. Feel free to translate that into the currency you use so you can get a better idea of how much everything in the story costs.**

 **Thank you to starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, Guest, and 082 Martian Scout for your reviews. And speaking of reviews, please leave one on your way out.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	4. Lux and Saw Break the Law

**CHAPTER FOUR**

 **LUX**

"Hey, Bonteri."

I look over at Saw, who's leaning against the wall of the outpost. "Saw?"

"I had an idea for our ship fund. When I was a kid, hunters came into our village every week to make deliveries to the merchants. They seemed to have a…well, let's just call it a 'revolving cast'."

"Why?"

"There's this one guy, a butcher. He's the biggest tightwad I'd ever seen in my life." Saw explains. "The only reason he's still in business is because he's the only butcher in town. He would always try to cheat the hunters out of their catches and sell it at an insane price."

"We've all dealt with merchants like that," A good example would be the jogan merchant down my street, who's nothing but a crook. "What were you thinking?"

"If that guy can do it, then we sure could."

I blink. "Saw, we don't have a merchant stall."

Oh God. Where have my morals in regards to stealing gone, when Saw says "let's be phony merchants!" and my only objection is "we don't have a merchant stall."

"We don't need a merchant stall," Saw says. "We'll be traveling merchants."

"And what are we going to sell?"

Saw leans forward with a devilish look on his face and says "Preservatives."

 _"Preservatives?_ Why in the name of the force would we sell preservatives?"

"Butchers need them to keep their meat fresh in the heat. The energy bills for those chilled cases are really expensive, so this crook kept his on the lowest power he could and just insulated and preserved the meat. He was cheap with those too, so I'm surprised nobody got food poisoning."

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Steela and I may or may not have snuck into his shop when we were kids in an attempt to snitch some sausages."

Of course.

"I was thinking. He's got to buythose preservatives somewhere. I mean, he doesn't just make them himself."

I see where Saw's going with this. "How do you propose we get our hands on a bunch of preservatives?"

"Easy, Bonteri. We fake it."

…

The butcher's shop is a dump.

It's a squat wooden building that looks vaguely like a general store from days past. The awning above the door is stained and torn. The dirty white paint is peeling. And the sign above our head, which reads HAL'S FINE MEATS, is hanging on by a bolt or two.

"Well," Saw announces. "Hasn't changed a bit!"

We unload the barrel from the back of the speeder.

"Do you think he won't notice that it's just colored water?" I whisper. Technically it's not just colored water. We mixed in some of Mom's perfume and Tandin's cologne to give it that nice, gagging chemical smell

"I don't know. You're the one doing the sales pitch."

"But I don't even know this guy!"

"He'll recognize me for sure. You have to do it."

I gulp and approach the counter, where a thin, lanky man puts a plate of ground Lord-knows-what into the meat cabinet.

"Are you the owner?"

The man fixes me with a gaze, his mean eyes appraising me.

"I am. What do you want?"

….

"I'll take it. Two thousand five hundred cred."

"Two thousand five hundred! It's worth five." I argue back. "At this concentration, this will last you the entire year."

"Twenty-five hundred." The butcher repeats.

"Forty-five hundred." I counter-offer.

He doesn't even miss a beat. "Not a dime over three!"

Three. Okay, three plus two equals five. If we do some serious haggling at the dealership, we can get something that Ahsoka has a hope of fixing up.

"Deal," I say, and we shake.

After Saw and I unload the barrel into the butcher shop, he says "You look familiar."

Saw straightens his borrowed face bandanna. "I may have come in here once or twice."

When we go on our way in the speeder, Saw takes out his comm and dials.

"Hello operator. I'd like the police department."

 _"Caller ID!"_ I yell.

"Not when the operator connects…hello, health department?" Saw says. "There's a butcher who's selling doctored meats."

After he gives the coordinates, Saw turn the comm off with a malicious smile.

"Victory is mine after all, Hal. Victory is mine."

 **SIERRA**

"Eureka!"

Hero jumps up at her keyboard, spilling the bowl of cheesy snacks we had been sharing.

 _"Hero,"_ I complain, ducking down to pick up the spilled pieces.

But Hero has another idea. "Forget about the cheese curls. Go get the others."

Hutch looks up from his holopad across the room. "Find something, honey?"

"Don't act so surprised, baby." Hero flirts. "I always beat you."

 _Sierra, why did you decide to be in the same room with a young married couple? You just have to listen to them flirt the whole time._

I am more than happy to go get Ahsoka and Steela. I snag Steela in the kitchen, where she's washing dishes in the sink. Then I knock on Ahsoka's bedroom door.

"Ahsoka? Hero found something."

There's the sound of someone getting out of bed, and a not-so-cheery reply of "Coming." I look at Steela.

"Is she okay?" I whisper.

Steela shrugs. "Are any of us okay?"

True enough.

Ahsoka meets the rest of us in the living room, looking tired. "Okay, what do we have?"

Hero points at her screen. "Okay, so I was looking for anything we might have missed while we were investigating the Lazarus Project. Hutch sniffed out one of Tarkin's and Palpatine's _multiple_ aliases, but they were pretty thorough in keeping everything clean. So, I had to start from scratch."

"And..?"

"And I brought up a list of all businesses that weren't paying taxes to the Republic or to the Empire. Because honestly, why would Palapatine bill himself?"

"Since he was funding the Lazarus Project, he would make it tax-exempt." I think out loud.

"Bingo." Hero says. "So I took that list, and eliminated all the religious facilities. Then after I got rid of the small-time merchants, I only got two buildings. One is a food bank, and the other is an uber-creepy funeral home."

The funeral home she speaks of is a modest brick building with flowers growing along the walkway.

"What's creepy about it?" I ask.

Hero brings up another page. "Let's start with that they don't seem to have a staff. No administrators, no funeral coordinators, none of those people who stand at the door and hand out tissues, they don't even have janitors!"

"They could be using droids." Ahsoka points out.

"True. But here's where it starts getting weird. They don't get a whole lot of business. And by that, I mean they don't get any." Hero says. "Even after the rebellion, they only had one order."

"What was it for?" Steela asks.

"And that's where it gets _really_ weird." Hero says. "It was for an air hearse and a white shroud."

Silence for a second, and then Steela says: "Why are you all staring at me?"

I pick my words carefully. "At your fake funeral, the body was covered with a white shroud."

"How was I supposed to know?" she asks. "I was in a bacta tank."

"You think this funeral home arranged Steela's fake funeral?" Hutch asks. "White shrouds are pretty popular."

"Air hearses aren't. They're only used to collect bodies from places where a regular hearse can't go. For example, the Highlands."

Hutch reaches over to snitch one of the cheese curls from the bowl. "Hang on a second. When the emergency medical services on Onderon were just getting started…"

Ahsoka cuts him off. "Hearses and ambulances were the same vehicles. That's the way it was on Coruscant."

"The hearse might have had ambulance stuff in it?" I ask.

"There's no maybe to that sentence." Hero says. "There's no record of an embalmment taking place, or which morgue compartment the body was kept in. As far as the paper trail is concerned, the body just walked out."

"Or was wheeled into the operating room." Ahsoka says flatly.

Hero mutters something along the lines of "Thanks, General Obvious" under her breath. Fortunately, Ahsoka either doesn't hear or doesn't care.

"Is there anything else documented?" Ahsoka asks.

"Actually, yes." Hero says. "Besides that last one. Here's their complete business record for the last two years. One Zygerrian female, 34 years old. One Twi'lek female, 15 years old. Then there's a 46-year-old human man, a 44-year-old human woman, a 15-year-old human boy, and a 12-year-old human girl."

 _It's the Lazarus Project! The entire thing is the Lazarus Project!_

"How did we miss this?" Steela demands.

"We were trying to save my life." Ahsoka reminds her. "And when we found Tarkin, we kind of stopped looking because we had to figure out how we were going to kill Mary Sues."

"Look," Hero says. "If this building was part of the Lazarus Project, we can bet that its comm numbers are phonies. I tested one of them, and it's a dummy server on Tatooine. But they apparently forgot that this gives us access to the main frequency if you know what you're doing."

"Do you?" Hutch asks.

"You do, sweet cheeks. Mind monitoring it? If anything comes across, you're the better hacker."

….

Hutch's comm rings, and he checks caller ID.

"Are we clear?" he asks, before answering.

Ahsoka walks over to the door, and looks down the hall one way, then the other.

Then she shuts the door.

"No sign of them."

I don't have to ask who 'them' is: Mom, Dad, Rex, and Tandin.

Hutch answers the call. "Saw, you're on speaker."

 _"Who's there?"_

"Just us chickens."

Saw's voice relaxes. _"Hey guys! We did it!"_

"You did what?"

 _"Hey Steela, you remember Hal the butcher from when we were kids?"_

Steela makes a face. "Ugh. Yes."

 _"Bonteri and I just gave him a taste of his own medicine. We sold him a barrel of orange water saying it was meat preservatives."_

"What? How?" Steela cries.

Lux's voice comes on the comm. _"I'm a politician. It's my job to sell things that people don't want."_

"So you ripped off a merchant?" I sum it up.

Silence, and then Saw says: _"Well…yeah."_

 _"Listen, Sierra." Lux says. "Tarkin stole all our money. We can't get jobs, or the Empire will kill us. With no jobs and no bank accounts, there's only one way for us to survive."_

"I don't like it any more than you do, but it's our only choice." Steela says. "We're going to have to steal." Before Ahsoka or I can say anything, she raises a finger.

"But only from the Empire. Or Tarkin, because he now owes us over four million credits."

I think about that for about half a second before I say "Deal."

Ahsoka nods. "But only if Rex is in on it."

"Honestly?" Hutch says. "We're going to need him. And anyway, it's not like we'll be able to explain away our income and our absences forever. On that note, could someone please go get him? I need to make us all some aliases."

"Aliases?"

Hutch sticks another cheese curl in his mouth.

"We can't use our real names anymore. And I don't think any single one of us trusts Lux or Saw to make up a smart one."

 _"Hey!"_ Lux and Saw protest.

Hero laughs, and hangs up on them.

"Sierra, go get Rex. Hutch, you and I better get to work."

 **A/N: And so the life of crime begins. This is the last set-up chapter, in the next one the plot will kick into high gear.**

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. And speaking of reviews, please leave your thoughts in the review box on the way out!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	5. In Fact, We All Break the Law

**CHAPTER FIVE**

 **LUX**

Rex uses a pair of tongs to lift a small piece of plastic out of a tray of liquid.

"Moonshine was a regular genius making these." He raves, holding it up to the light.

"These" are fake IDs, something we're going to need plenty of in our line of work. This one has Hutch's face paired with the name Vincent Baker. 

"Why'd you call us in here?" Saw asks.

"Mission briefing." Rex says, inspecting the fake. "Mainly, to go over your aliases."

"Since the war ended," Hutch says, "The police are auctioning off the impound lot. And according to the records, they have a ship big enough for us. Unfortunately, it costs way more than 5000 credits."

"We'll have to steal it." Saw says.

"Yes, but this is the _police station._ The whole place will be swarming with cops, which means we can't do a simple grab-and-go. We have to do a con."

Rex passes out the IDs one by one.

"Lux, you're going to be Josh Eaton. You want the ship to use as a delivery vehicle for your business. Hero, you're Grace Lee. And Saw, you're her husband Tyrone."

"What are we doing?" Saw asks.

"Keep the others from bidding. Distract them, spill water on them, trip them." He hands Sierra her ID.

"Sierra, your name is Annie Bennet. You're the secretary, and your job is to set the starting bid on the ship as low as you possibly can."

"And the real secretary?"

"We'll get rid of her."

"If anyone gets in trouble, tell Saw or Ahsoka and they'll take care of it. Try not to go anywhere near the bigwigs. Questions?"

"Yes." Saw says. "Why isn't Hutch pretending to be Hero's husband?"

Hutch doesn't look too pleased at this development either. "Because I have to stay here and run the computer."

"We can split up," Saw suggests. "We can hit more people that way, anyway."

"Ahsoka, you already know what you're doing." Rex says. "Is everyone ready?"

Nods all around.

"Good," Rex says. "All right, shinies. Let's go get ourselves a ship."

 **SIERRA**

Being broke and on the run has the unfortunate side effect of not having very many extra clothes. Since Rex told me I actually have to look like a secretary, I'm making do with my school uniform. Here's to praying that nobody sees through it.

I knock on the glass window and the secretary walks up to it.

"Can I help you?" the secretary asks.

"Hi! I'm your relief."

"What do you mean?"

My eyes widen. "Didn't you hear about the computer training today?"

"W-what?"

I set my briefcase down. "The company's putting in a new computer system, and everybody's getting trained on it today. It's mandatory!"

"I never heard anything about this!"

"Didn't you check your voicemail yesterday?"

 _"All right Sierra." Hutch said before I left. "This chick never checks voicemail. And by never, I mean she has 73 unheard messages."_

The secretary grabs the phone, dials the voicemail, and a recording of Steela's voice comes from the speaker.

 _"Hi, this is Tesla from IT. We're having a mandatory computer training at noon tomorrow, during the auction. We'll be sending someone up to relieve you about that time, so when she shows up just head on over to the computer lab in our suburban office. Thank you!"_

The secretary grabs her purse and mutters a swear word under her breath. "I can still make it. Miss…"

"Bennet."

"If you could file those papers on the desk for me, that would be excellent!" she requests as she runs out the door to the phantom computer training seminar.

As soon as she's gone, I take her family photos from the desktop and stick them in a drawer.

 _Getting rid of the secretary? Done._

"Okay, where's the bid paperwork?" I mutter to myself, turning on the computer.

 **AHSOKA**

I flash my fake badge to one of the cops on the impound lot.

"Hi, I'm the photographer from the _Journal._ My boss told me to photograph the lot for the headlining story." I explain.

The cop inspects the badge, then hands it back to me and steps aside. "Go right on ahead, just don't disrupt the bidding, please."

 _Thank you, Officer Obvious._ But I walk into the lot, every so often pretending to snap pictures with Mina's camera.

That is, until I find the ship.

While "photographing" it from top to bottom, I work my magic. Using the force to dent the outside, leaving large and obvious smears of dirt all over, and scraping the paint.

I take a step back.

"Now that looks like a junker." I announce to no one in particular.

 _Phase two of the plan, complete._

 **SAW**

Hero still isn't very happy over being cast as a husband and wife.

"Rex is not my favorite person right now." She mutters.

"I'm as happy about it as you are, _Grace._ At least I'm not wearing a wedding ring."

Hero huffs and power-walks toward the bidders. "Let's just get this done, _Tyrone."_

She and I stand next to each other, a good foot apart when the auctioneer comes up to the ship.

"All right, we have an old spice freighter." He announces. When he gives the date the ship was made, he gives a year four years older than the actual date.

That would be either Hutch or Sierra's handiwork.

"This old bird's made some long journeys."

Which means Ahsoka messed up the ship like she was supposed to.

"For those of you who like a fixer-upper, this is the ship for you! Bidding starts at," he looks down at his paper. "Nine hundred credits!"

 _Nine hundred cred? Not bad, the rest of you. Not bad at all._

"Ready?" I ask Hero out of the side of my mouth.

"Anything so I can stop pretending to be your wife." She mutters back and steadies her grip on her water bottle.

 _"_ Let's see nine twenty-five!"The auctioneer shouts.

"Bid, ten o'clock!" I whisper.

No sooner have I said it then Hero is over to the guy raising his bid card, spilling her water on him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she gushes the same tone she used as a waitress, dabbing at the guy's shirt.

The guy raises his hands in a "please give me my personal space" gesture, but Hero keeps pushing. By the time she's done, she's probably scrubbed all thoughts of bidding from his head.

Lux's bid card goes up.

"That's nine twenty-five to the young man in the front, now let's hear nine fifty!"

Another bid card is about to go up, but I "accidentally" step on the person's foot. They give me a dirty look, but I don't care. Because this time, a bid card goes up.

"Nine fifty to the lady in brown, now how about one thousand?"

Lux bids again.

"One thousand to the front! Going once…"

Someone walks up beside me.

"Nice job," Ahsoka whispers into my ear.

"Hey, I can't be in two places at once and neither can Hero!"

"Obviously." She mutters.

"I don't see you doing anything about it."

"Patience, 'Tyrone'."

She discreetly waves her hand, and suddenly the ship shudders almightily.

The auctioneer freezes for a second before saying "Going twice…"

Nobody bids. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't either.

"Sold to the young man in front!"

Ahsoka sighs in relief.

Hero looks at me.

"Did we actually just rig an auction?" she mouths.

I just nod.

 _We have a ship. After Lux buys it, we have four thousand credits. We can steal more money if we have to._

 _Ha! With luck like this, what could possibly go wrong?_

 **STEELA**

I got relegated to phone duty.

As the Head Advisor of Onderon, my face is well-known across Onderon. Until we get offworld, I'm firmly stuck in this outpost.

Normally, I wouldn't be happy with this development. But this time, I'm more than willing to stay behind and leave a voicemail as Tesla from IT.

 _I hate that name. Why do I keep using it as an alias?_

 _Because,_ my common sense says, _if you rearrange the letters in 'Tesla' and add an E, you get 'Steela.' And you like your name._

But there's another reason I'm not bothered. A reason called "Ahsoka".

Anyone with half a brain cell to their name can tell that Ahsoka is not all right. And not in the sense that she's grieving for her master, all those dead Jedi, and the corrupted clones.

Trust me. Ahsoka and I have shared a room from when she left the Jedi Order to the day she married Lux. I know that woman inside and out.

Something's up, and I aim to find out what it is.

In theory, this is going to be easy. Half of us are out on the con. The only person due back anytime soon is Sierra, who had to run out before her cover was blown. I know all of Ahsoka's passwords. Put a chocolate bar in Sierra's palm and she'll happily tell me all of Lux's.

I even have a cover story.

I ease Lux and Ahsoka's door open, step inside, and silently shut it behind me. Now, where to check first?

At least that part's easy. Ahsoka's diary, here I come.

Locating the blue and white journal is easy. I ignore the front, which reads PRIVATE PROPERTY OF AHSOKA TANO BONTERI. Ahsoka always dates her entries, so I start two weeks from today.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _How the Force am I ever going to get Lux to put the toilet seat down? It's a good thing I love him to death, because otherwise I'd kill him._

Nothing in there particularly screams "red flag." I try the next one.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Padme isn't well. She's very worried about Anakin, and the babies are going to come any day now._

Well that confirms it: Padme was actually pregnant. When they announced it on HoloNet news, I didn't believe a word. Mainly because when I finally resurfaced after the Lazarus Project, tabloids said everything from "Steela is pregnant!" to "Steela is a cyborg!"

The next entry is dated the day Order 66 went out, and I can't read the text itself because Ahsoka's tears had caused the ink to run.

This is definitely bad.

Step Two: after putting the diary back, start rooting through Ahsoka's drawers.

Apart from a shirt Ahsoka borrowed and never returned, I find…hang on, what's that?

Beneath the shirts, I find half a sleeve of saltine crackers.

 _Huh? Why would Ahsoka hide saltines?_

 _Steela, you're overreacting. Anybody would be broken up over their virtual family being slaughtered! And maybe Ahsoka just didn't want Saw and Sierra getting into her crackers. Jeez, it's like you're paranoid and on nysillin again!_

Nysillin…

I can almost hear the little click in my brain.

If there's something wrong with Ahsoka, the evidence most likely won't be in here. It'll be in the bathroom.

I put her room back in order, then slink over to the bathroom.

"All right, what to check first?"

I go for the medicine cabinet. If Ahsoka has antidepressants, they'd be there.

Here's some old cough drops.

Painkillers.

Tums.

Some rolls of gauze, sterile thread, and needles in packages.

Antibiotics.

And something else. An object I've only seen in movies.

The pieces click.

I turn the object over and read the label.

 _Please don't be what I think it is. Please don't be what I think it is._

My eyes bug out.

 _Holy force, it is!_

 **A/N: Steela, it's in your best interests to just put the object down right away.**

 **Thank you to starwarshobbitfics and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. And speaking of reviews, please leave your thoughts in the review box on your way out.**

 **Reviews = happy motivated author.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	6. Steela Messes Up

**CHAPTER SIX**

" _Nature never framed a woman's heart / Of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice."_

 _-"Much Ado About Nothing" 3:1:51-52_

"Hero!"

Hero demands complete privacy in the kitchen, and Steela knows it's probably her only shot at getting her alone.

"What gives?" Hero asks. "We got the ship and nobody suspected a thing. We're good to go."

"Never mind the ship. _Is this yours?"_

She holds out the bottle and the sleeve of crackers, and Hero takes a step back.

"What the-?"

"I found it in the bathroom. Is it yours?" Steela wheedles.

"No!" And then the implications hit her. "Then it has to be…"

"Ahsoka's. It's Ahsoka's. Oh, Lux is going to be in for a shock."

"What are we going to do?"

Steela puts the bottle back in her pocket. "I'm going to talk to Mina. She's been there before."

"Mina's a pretty good source." Hero concedes, her hands reaching for the doorknob. With the precision of a surgeon, she rips the door open, and yanks Sierra through when she falls, having been leaning on the door.

"Her daughter, on the other hand, is a little _spy!"_

Sierra gets to her feet as best she can, but it's rather difficult considering Hero has ahold of the front of her shirt.

"How much did you hear?" Steela demands, closing ranks with Hero.

"N-not much," Sierra stammers, arms frozen by her sides.

Steela and Hero look at each other and simultaneously raise their eyebrows.

"Really, Sierra?"

"Maybe about half."

"You mean the whole thing." Steela says, wise to the lies of young girls.

"What did you find?" Sierra asks

Steela sighs, and shows it to her. Sierra stares blankly.

"What's that?"

"This is folic acid," Steela explains. "And there's only one reason why somebody would take folic acid and eat saltine crackers."

"Why?"

"Ahsoka," Steela says. "Is _pregnant."_

 _"No way!"_

Hero nods, then pulls Sierra close.

"Not a word, little sister. You hear me?"

Sierra nods furiously, and Hero lets her go.

"Sierra, you can't say anything about this to Lux." Steela orders. "Ahsoka needs to be the one to tell him."

"Maybe he already knows."

Steela rolls her eyes. "Your brother, force bless him, has the biggest mouth I have ever seen. You two, act like it's business as usual. I have to talk to Mina."

 **MINA**

The instant you become a mother, your number one instinct is to protect your children.

In my book, that statement doesn't just cover the children I bore. It covers just about every young person in existence.

When Steela walks up to my door asking if she can talk to me, my Mom instincts kick in as strongly as if it had been Sierra.

"Of course. What's on your mind?" I ask, shutting the door behind her.

Instead of answering, Steela holds out a medicine bottle.

Printed on the label in block letters are the words FOLIC ACID.

"I found it in the bathroom and Hero says it isn't hers. And I found a sleeve of saltines in Ahsoka's room." Steela says.

I know all about folic acid and saltine crackers.

Saltines work wonders at curbing nausea, but it's the vitamins that seals the deal. I bought the same ones when I found out I was pregnant with my kids.

My hand goes to my mouth. "Oh…oh my."

"Mina, what are we going to do? Ahsoka can't run cons while she's pregnant." Steela bleats. "What if a fight breaks out and she gets hurt? What if she gets captured?"

Her voice drops. "What would happen to the baby?"

My hand fumbles behind me, eventually finding a chair which I lower myself into.

"I'm a grandmother?" I ask, staring at the bottle.

Steela nods.

"Does Lux know?"

She shakes her head. "No. I don't think so."

"We don't know for sure. Maybe she needs it for another reason." Though I don't think that's true.

"I don't think it is. Ahsoka's been rushing off in the mornings, I think she's getting morning sickness. And she's been really hungry lately. What are we going to do?" she repeats.

I take a deep breath. "There's a reason Sierra was my last child. I had difficulties when I was carrying her."

"What kind of difficulties?" Steela asks.

"Preeclampsia." To her blank look, I clarify "The placenta doesn't work properly, and it causes high blood pressure. It can become serious."

"Are you afraid she has it?"

"No, it doesn't develop until the later stages of pregnancy. But I am afraid of complications."

She stares at the test almost as if she's the one who took it.

"You need to talk to her," I advise. "But you need to do it _gently._ Her hormones are all out of balance right now, and she doesn't know how to control them." Then I shake my head. "On second thought, I'll do it. I've been through the same thing, twice."

Steela puts the bottle back in her pocket.

"Thank you, Mina. But I have to do this. It's only-."

And then a booming, guttural roar shatters the air.

"STEELA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

 **AHSOKA**

Sierra almost jumps out of her skin when I walk into the kitchen.

"Aah! H-hi, Ahsoka." She stammers.

"Did I scare you?" I tease. She doesn't answer, and I open the fridge. "Do we have any pickles?"

Sierra shakes her head. "No. I don't think so." She says, turning back to the sink and the dishes.

Something dark and cold prods at me in the force.

"I sense fear in you, Sierra. Did something happen during the con?"

Sierra swallows hard, and I sense her mental shields slamming down.

I don't want to probe my sister-in-law's mind. But Sierra is no Jedi, and a few words slip through.

 _Steela._

 _Aunt._

But it isn't the last word that gives it away. It's that although she's making an effort not to look, Sierra glances down at my belly.

The puzzle pieces assemble in my head faster than Jar Jar Binks can cause mayhem.

"Who told you?" I demand.

Sierra shakes her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Translation: Steela did, and I'm not saying because I have to share a room with her and I don't want to end up on the next episode of _Criminal Minds._

I'll deal with Sierra later. But right now, I have bigger fish to fry.

"STEELA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

….

"What were you thinking?"

I snatch my folic acid back from Steela.

"What was I thinking? What were _you_ thinking, walking into a danger zone when you're going to be a mother?" She hisses.

"That mission was perfectly safe. The problem here is that you think it's okay to go through my stuff."

"Ahsoka, I'm your friend! You seriously weren't going to tell me there's a baby on the road?"

 _"I haven't even told Lux yet!"_

Steela squares her shoulders. "That's the point, Ahsoka. He needs to know."

"I don't see how that is any of your business." I snap, taking a few steps toward her.

She gestures wildly at my belly. "There is a _baby_ in danger. Ahsoka, listen to me. Mina says that when she was pregnant with Sierra, she got this disease. It's serious, both she and Sierra could have died."

"But obviously, they didn't. I am not so shallow as to put my own child's life in danger." The implications of what she just said get through to me.

" _You told Mina?"_

"What else was I supposed to do?"

It takes all my self-control not to take a swing at Steela.

"Bad enough you told Sierra-."

"That was an accident. We had to fill her in."

"Sierra is like a canary. I'm surprised the whole galaxy doesn't know."

"Like I said, _accident."_

"Why would you do something like that?" I ask, struggling to keep my voice even. "Why would you root through my belongings, take something of mine, and tell Mina a very personal secret?"

Steela starts to say something, but apparently changes her mind at the last second.

"Ahsoka, you need to tell Lux."

"Of course I have to tell Lux."

"Then why didn't you tell him already?" She snaps. "You should have told him the minute you saw the test was positive."

My face flushes.

"My entire life is gone, Steela. My master is dead, Padme is dead, Master Plo is dead, all the clones but Rex betrayed the Jedi, the Republic is gone. Now I'm pregnant and thanks to you, people know and the whole thing is out of my control."

I have no idea why I'm fighting back tears. Maybe it's because of the baby, maybe it's because I'm just _that_ angry at Steela. It's probably a combination of both.

She's about to reply, but at that moment the door swings open.

It's Sierra. And she's white as a sheet. Probably knew just what she was walking into.

"You both need to get on the ship _right now."_

"Why?" Steela demands testily.

"Hutch found something. We think there's a Jedi in danger."

 **A/N: Let me just say it now *clears throat* Steela, you messed up.**

 **Thank you to Beth, starwarshobbitfics and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. And StarwarsRulz, for predicting Ahsoka's pregnancy, you get an internet cookie (::)**

 **Please leave your throughts in the review box on your way out!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	7. Youngling Hunt

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

 **LUX**

Never in the history of outposts has one been packed up faster than ours. It mainly entailed grabbing our stuff and making a mad dash into the ship.

"Sierra said something about a Jedi in trouble?" Ahsoka asks, helping me stash our belongings in our cabin.

"I know as much as you do." I throw the bedsheets onto the bunk in a bundle. "Is Steela done moving herself and Sierra? Can she help us?"

"Steela is not my favorite person right now." Ahsoka says testily, stowing our suitcase under the bunk. "Whatever she can do, I can do anyway."

I take a step back. "…Okay."

 _Huh? I thought those two were best friends. They managed to share a room for a year, and Hero says that their arguments never got serious._

 _Whatever's causing this one, it's got to be really bad._

I quickly make the bed, then go with Ahsoka to the ship's small living area where Hutch is trying to set up the computer again.

All seems normal until Steela walks in, and takes a seat as far away from Ahsoka as she possibly can. Unfortunately for her, said seat is right next to Tandin.

Tandin looks at me, and nods.

Whatever they were fighting about, it's major.

Hero works a kink out of her neck and announces: "We think we found some fugitive Jedi. And from the sound of it, they're younglings."

"How did you find them?" Ahsoka asks.

Hutch's monitor finally boots up.

"I'm monitoring the frequencies for the Jedi Temple." He says. "One second there's nothing but static, and the next there's a voice. Little girl, can't be any more than ten years old."

"Ten?" Mina rubs her temples. "Oh, Lord."

"Hero got on the line," he says. "We figured a kid might trust a woman. It worked."

"There are two of them," Hero says. "A boy and a girl. They were on a training mission with their clan, and their clone escort turned on them."

"Did you get a name?" Saw asks.

Hutch nods. "Katooni."

Ahsoka's eyes widen. "Katooni?"

"Yeah, do you know her?" Hutch asks.

Ahsoka's hands clench with fear. "I took her and her clan on the Gathering! Is she okay?"

"For now. I don't know how much longer she will." Hero admits.

Saw bristles. "Why?"

"Because when I was talking to her, another line opened up. The voice on it sounded…wrong. I told Katooni to hang up and crush the comlink, but she's not out of the woods." Hero bites her lip.

"Katooni didn't know to mask her signal," Hutch says. "We have her location locked down, and it's not that much of a stretch to assume the other person does too."

….

"What was she thinking?" Ahsoka demands.

I load my blaster. "I guess Endor is as good as any when you're running from the Empire."

Saw checks his holster. "Katooni says their ship was leaking coolant and they had to make an emergency landing."

"They had the sense to stay in the ship, right? The last thing we need to deal with are hungry Ewoks."

"Do you know who the other youngling is?" I ask, changing the subject.

Ahsoka sighs. "I'm willing to lay money it's Petro. He's Katooni's best friend."

"Petro," I mutter. "Is that the punk who was chatting up Sierra at the wedding?"

"No," Ahsoka says, smiling at the memory. "That was O-Mer. Petro was the one who practiced his swordsmanship with the cake server."

Ah, I remember him now. Mom had stalked up to the human boy, hand outstretched, and cleared her throat. Petro had gulped, and placed the cake server in her hand without a word!

"They could do it," I say. "I'm sure we'll get there in time. We have a head start."

Hutch pulls up a sound recording. "You guys might want to listen to this."

When he presses PLAY, all there is for the first few seconds is static. Then a child's voice, a young girl's voice.

 _"Jedi Temple, come in."_ she says. _"Our clone troopers attacked us and severely damaged our ship. Please respond!"_

 _"Hello? Young Jedi?"_ Hutch asks in the recording.

 _"Jedi Temple?"_ The girl repeats. _"Jedi Temple, is that you?"_

There's a pause, and then it's Hero's voice on the recording.

 _"No. Are you all alone?"_

 _"Who are you?"_ The little girl demands. _"Are you working with the clones?"_

 _"No, no! My name is Hero and I'm from Onderon."_ Hero explains. _"Are you alone, sweetie? What's your name?"_

The girl chokes on a sob. _"Katooni! My name's Katooni."_

 _"Katooni. That's a nice name."_

 _"What's going on? Why are the clones killing us? We were only on a training mission. Zatt and I are the only ones left."_

 _"My friends and I are coming to get you. Where are you?"_

 _"Endor. We had to land. The ship needed repairs, and Zatt's hurt really, really bad so he can't fix it, and I don't know how!"_

 _"Okay, we're getting ready to leave right now. Help will be there soon. What's your favorite food?"_

Katooni sounds confused, but she says _"Cake."_

 _"Cake. I can make that for you when we come. What kind do you like?"_

 _"Vanilla."_

 _"Vanilla. That can be arranged."_

The last voice isn't Hero's. It sounds friendly at the surface, but underneath you can hear the danger in it.

Whoever that is, is sick. Sick in the way serial killers are.

There is silence.

 _"Listen to me,"_ Hero orders. _"Hang up, and crush the comlink. Do it now!"_

There's the sound of one of the comlinks cutting out, and the transmission ends. 

"I swear to God, that voice sounds familiar." I say.

"Because it is." Ahsoka says, worry creeping into her voice. "That's Barriss."

Steela mutters from the other side of the room. "I should have broken her nose when I had the chance. But no, I had to go taunt Tarkin. Should have punched her right in the kisser."

Ahsoka ignores her.

Everybody else in the room locks eyes with me and a silent "Uh-oh" passes among us.

"Okay," Saw says. "Here's the plan. We leave some people outside as sentries while the rest of us look for the kids. We get in, we get the younglings, we get out before the Empire can find us."

"Solid." Steela comments.

Tandin clears his throat. "Hero and Hutch, you're going in for sure. So are Saw, Rex, and-."

"John," Mom volunteers Dad.

The look of surprise on Dad's and Tandin's faces tell us this was _not_ in the original plan, but they go with it.

"Right," Tandin says. "The rest of you have sentry duty."

Ahsoka and Steela aren't going to be too happy about that. At least they know how to put their feelings aside and focus on the mission. The same couldn't be said for Saw and I during the rebellion.

"Questions, anyone?" Tandin asks.

"Yes," I say. "What if the Empire's already there?"

"Then we're in deep, deep trouble."

….

Our plans for rescuing the kids basically boil down to three rules.

One: Get in, get the kids, get out.

Two: Don't die.

Three: The teddy bears will eat you. No matter how cute they look.

And if you're listening to Sierra, which no one is, there's a fourth: Don't be stupid.

But our little group probably needs that guideline. According to our little sisters, Saw and I should dress up as Dumb and Dumber for Halloween.

It's only fitting that we pair up for the rescue mission.

"Do you think they stayed on the ship?" I ask.

Saw shrugs. "If I was a kid, on a planet with man-eating teddy bears, I would stay on my ship. It sounds like the best possible idea."

"Point taken," I agree, and we start toward the ship. "So…do you know what's up between Ahsoka and Steela?"

"Ha, _nope._ Steela doesn't tell me anything when she gets mad. She just growls at everything."

"Ahsoka hasn't told me anything either. Think Tandin's picked up on it?"

Saw blinks.

"How couldn't he? Lux, I don't think you understand how tuned in he is with Steela. It's like they're on the same wavelength ever since she got that kidney. If she's hungry, he knows what she wants. When she had her mental breakdown, he sensed it before it happened. If she's mad at Ahsoka, he knows."

"Do you think he knows the exact reason?"

"Nope. He would have brought it up already if he did."

I sigh. "We'd better find the kids. Deal with this…whatever it is….later."

The younglings' ship managed to land in a clearing, more or less. It sort of hit a tree on the way down, but otherwise it's undamaged.

Hero and Hutch come up from the other side of the ship.

"It's all clear there." Hutch says, turns the handle on the door hatch, and pulls.

It doesn't budge.

He tries again. Zip.

"Let me," Saw grunts, and they both pull on the door.

Their combined strength still doesn't budge the door. And I can see why.

"You know, maybe Steela and Sierra were on to something." I mutter, walk up to the door, and push it. It opens without a problem.

"I was gonna do that." Saw says.

"Yeah, sure." I mutter and lead the way into the ship.

"John and Captain Rex should be coming in the other side about now." Saw says, pushing me aside to take point himself.

"What are we going to do?" Hutch asks. "Call their names? If I were them, I wouldn't come."

"We'll just wait for John and Rex to mess up, and we'll do the opposite." Hero says.

The comlink buzzes to life.

 _"You all realize we can hear everything you're saying?"_ Dad asks, his voice piping through my earpiece.

Hero's face falls. "I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

 _"Search the ship,"_ Rex instructs. _"We'll be there in a minute. If we find anything, we'll let you know."_

Luckily for the galaxy at large; Hutch, Hero, Saw, and I are competent enough to know how to search a ship.

Saw kicks the door open. Hero and I rush through, checking behind furniture, in shadowy corners, anywhere a kid could hide.

"It's clear," I announce, a little confused.

Hutch walks in through the door. "Oh man, they must have left. They better not have found those killer teddies, because..."

He doesn't finish his sentence because at that moment, a blue lightsaber ignites behind him and swings. Saw yanks him out of the way just in time.

"Holy kriff!" I shout.

Hutch spins around, a look of sheer terror painted on his face as he and Saw raise their blasters, ready to shoot whoever tried to cut Hutch in two.

"Who are you?" The person (no, the child) holding the saber shouts. "Leave us alone!"

Hero puts a hand to her chest. "We don't want to hurt you. I'm Hero, from the phone. Are you Katooni?"

The lightsaber stops moving.

"Are you Katooni?" Hero repeats. When no answer comes, she says "If you are, it's okay. We can help you take care of your friend. Where is he?"

Katooni looks at Hero, then at the rest of us.

The lightsaber blade retracts, and Katooni hooks it onto her belt.

"He's in the other room," she says, voice shaking. "Please help him! He's getting worse."

"What's wrong with him?" I ask, lowering my blaster.

"He was shot," Katooni whispers, eyes fixed on Hero.

"Where?" Hero asks.

"The side."

Hero offers her a hand. "Take us to him."

I lift a hand to my ear, activating the comlinks. "Dad, we found Katooni. She says the other youngling is hurt."

 _"We know, Lux."_ Dad says. His voice is tight, barely audible over a rattling sound in the background. _"If you have Katooni, keep her away. Take her back to the ship."_

"Why?"

 _"Because we found him."_

It dawns on me what that rattling sound is.

"Is he-?"

 _"It's a miracle he held on as long as he did. Rex is giving him something for the pain."_

I take Katooni's other hand, flashing a look to Hero. "On second thought, let's go back to the ship. My dad says he's taking care of your friend."

"Yeah, let's." Hero suggests, helping me steer Katooni out the front door.

Unfortunately, Katooni doesn't buy it.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Hutch lies.

"Hey, Ahsoka's on the ship. Do you want to go see her again?" Saw baits.

Katooni might have gone with us, if a groan hadn't echoed through the ship walls, followed by Rex's sigh of _"Damn,"_ through the comlinks.

"Zatt!"

A tiny, booted foot stomps on top of mine, prompting me to release one of Katooni's hands. Before I can make a second attempt, Hero flies into me, propelled by the Force.

Katooni shoots down the hallway, the rest of us in hot pursuit. She takes a hard left, making a beeline for a small door off to the side.

But when she opens the door, Dad is there.

He swings her over his shoulder, using one hand to keep her head down as he steps through the door. Behind him, Rex draws a sheet to cover a Nautolan boy.

It's when he turns, and she can see his face, that Katooni loses it.

We can only hold her still until Rex manages to inject a sedative into her arm, letting us take her back to the ship.

 **A/N: At least nobody was attacked by homicidal teddy bears. (Those were the Ewoks)**

 **Thank you to Beth, starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, and CT-3488 for your reviews. And speaking of reviews, please leave your thoughts in the box on your way out.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	8. Oh No! Not Again! It's an Intervention!

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

 **STEELA**

Mina isn't happy when John brings Katooni in unconscious.

"You drugged her?" she cries.

"She was hysterical," John defends, looking for a place to put Katooni down.

Mina jerks her head toward the cabin Sierra and I share. "Put her in with the other girls. Where's the other one?"

Lux looks down at his feet.

"He died."

Rex steps up. "Mrs. Bonteri, the youngling had been shot in the side and hadn't received proper medical attention. He'd lost so much blood, and the tissue damage led to gangrene which went unchecked. It was just too late."

Ahsoka approaches him. "You did what you could, and Zatt would have appreciated that."

Hero clears her throat. "John, I'll sit up with Katooni if you want."

"Me too," Ahsoka says. "She knows me."

Mina points down the hallway toward our cabin. John carries Katooni while the rest of us follow like a school of fish.

John lays Katooni on the bed. Hero reaches for Katooni's boot, grabbing the heel with one hand and the toe with the other.

Mina places a hand over Hero's, stopping her. "You'll yank her leg doing that. Watch me," she grabs Katooni's calf with one hand, the heel of her boot with the other, and guides it off the youngling's foot. She watches with a practiced eye as Hero replicates the action.

Mina draws the covers over Katooni and takes a seat on the end of the bed.

"Um, Mina?" I bring up. "I'm not sure how similar Katooni and I are, but it really scared me to see someone leaning over me when I woke up."

"You were also jacked up from nysillin withdrawal." Saw points out. "Katooni isn't going to be that paranoid."

"She watched her friends die." Lux says. "I was paranoid after I thought Mom and Dad were gone and Death Watch was on my tail, this couldn't be any better."

"How bad was it?" Saw asks.

"Triple deadbolt on the door. As if that wasn't enough, I padlocked it."

 _So that's why Lux was okay with leaving Sierra in Iziz during the rebellion,_ I muse. _She was in a veritable fortress._

Ahsoka looks like she wants to say something but before she can, she goes green and hurries off toward the refresher.

Ha. No surprise there, at least for those of us who know about the vitamins.

 _Maybe I should go check on her. That's what friends do, right?_

But I nix that idea when Katooni stirs, whining in her sleep.

Saw looks at us, panic-stricken.

"What are we gonna do?"

No answer.

"What are we gonna do?" he repeats. "Ahsoka's not here. She's going to freak out!"

I at least have the presence of mind to grab Katooni's lightsaber and put it in a drawer so she (hopefully) can't use it on us.

Mina steps forward. "Everyone, calm down. This isn't a big deal. We're just going to comfort and explain to this child who we are and why we're here. John, help me. The rest of you, stay – why, hello!"

Katooni opens her eyes.

Mina kneels by the side of the bed to meet her eye level. "You might feel a little stiff and achy, but that's just the medicine. It should go away soon."

Katooni pushes herself away from Mina. "Who are you?" she asks. "Where did you take me?"

"You're on our ship." Mina starts to explain. "And my name is Mina, I'm Ahsoka's mother-in-law. Do you remember me from the wedding?"

There's silence, and then…

"You were the one who took the cake server from Petro."

Mina nods. "He would have hurt himself or someone else if I hadn't."

Katooni looks around the room. "Where's Ahsoka?"

"She had to step out but she'll be back soon." I say. _Right after she's done emptying her stomach and remembering again why we're not on speaking terms._

John waves. "Remember me? I'm John Bonteri."

Katooni nods.

"You carried me away. After the clone…"

She throws the blankets off and makes a mad dash, actually managing to get past Mina and John. I block the door so she can't make an escape, but she's not heading there. With a sob, Katooni wraps her arms around Hero's waist.

Hero looks at Hutch, then at Mina, and mouths _what do I do?_

John pantomimes hugging someone, and Hero does

"What did you do with his body?" Katooni asks.

John swallows hard. "We covered him. I'm very, very sorry Katooni."

She shudders with a deep breath. "Do you have his lightsaber?"

Blank looks.

"No." Saw says finally. "We didn't."

Katooni starts to cry again, burying her face in Hero's shirt.

I start thinking up excuses to get out of here.

Luckily for me, a signal bell goes off.

"I'll get it!" I shout, ducking out of the room and away from Katooni's tears.

….

It would have saved me a whole lot of trauma and drama if I'd been a Jedi and could hear through closed doors. According to the explanation I wheedled out of Saw, the following events went something like this.

After a moment of silence, Tandin asked "Does anybody else realize there is something going on between Ahsoka and Steela?"

Everyone else nodded, even though they didn't want to mention the elephant in the room.

"What are we going to do about it?"

"Tell you what," John said. "Katooni, you look tired. How about you take a nap, while the rest of us get Ahsoka and Steela straightened out?"

 **AHSOKA**

"Ahsoka, can I talk to you?" Lux asks.

I swallow hard, still discerning whether I need to run back into the bathroom.

"Sure," I force a smile. "What's on your mind?"

Lux takes my hand and we walk toward the main room.

My first clue should have been the fact that the rooms are empty.

Lux opens the door to the common room.

John, Mina, and Sierra are sitting in three seats. Tandin and Saw are in two more. Hutch leans up against the wall, Hero next to him sipping a glass of water.

In fact, all the seats are taken, except for two.

It's the two-seat bench directly across from _Steela's_ seat.

"What is this?" I ask.

"Sit down, Ahsoka." John requests, gesturing to the bench.

"What is this?" I repeat.

"It's an intervention." Mina says calmly.

Steela stands up. "Hang on-."

Tandin clamps a hand on her shoulder.

"Sit down."

Tandin isn't messing around. Steela sits down hard.

Lux takes my elbow, walks us over to the couch, and we sit down.

"All right," John says. "There's a reason we called this intervention, ladies. You may think that you're being discreet about your little spat, but you're anything but. Everyone in this room has noticed."

I glance over at Mina, Sierra, and Hero. Those three know what's going on (Thanks a lot Steela) and they look incredibly uncomfortable. Mina glances at me, then at Steela, and then at Lux. Hero fiddles with a folded piece of paper, and Sierra runs her finger down the side of a datapad.

 _Wait a minute…_

Saw has a piece of paper, too. So do John, Tandin, Hero, Mina, Hutch, Lux…

Steela catches on the same time I do. "We are _not_ going to go around the room talking about our feelings!" she squawks.

"Motion seconded!" I cry, trying to stand up.

Unfortunately for both of us, the arms of Tandin, King of Onderon; and Lux Bonteri, husband extraordinaire, are far-reaching.

"Steela June Gerrera. Sit down."

The only purpose of a middle name is to know when you're really in trouble.

When Steela sits down again, Saw unfolds his piece of paper.

"It makes me sad when I see you fighting with Ahsoka all the time," he reads, a devious smile on his face. "I remember when you were five, and you thought your stuffed kitty had feelings. Why can't we go back to those days?"

Steela gives him a very black look. Tandin pretends not to notice.

"Saw," John says. "Read the serious ones."

Saw nods, and glances at his paper again. "Seriously. You two never fight like this. What gives?"

I tense up. _If someone squeals, I'm going to wring her neck._

 _Are those the hormones talking? They might be. Oh man, it's too early to deal with hormones. Isn't it? Maybe I should talk to Mina…_

Luckily, Steela proves she has brain cells. "Nothing's wrong, Saw."

"Oh please, sis." Saw scoffs.

Hero clears her throat, cutting him off.

"We have Katooni now," she reads. "After what she's been through, hearing you two arguing could really scare her."

"We know better than to argue in front of Katooni." I reason. "Come on, guys. It's not like it's a big deal. All friends fight."

"It can stop, though." Sierra stands up and pulls something out of her pocket.

I squint. It's a gold band on a string.

"So that's why I couldn't find my wedding ring," John mutters.

Sierra swings the ring back and forth. "Watch the ring. _Watch the ring…"_

I do. The only other option is to look at Mina who's giving me a withering gaze. Anyway, what harm can Sierra do? She's just Lux's kid sister.

Sierra puts her datapad down after consulting it one more time. "Uh, Ahsoka! When I snap my fingers, you will forget the number four." She snaps her fingers.

And nothing happens.

 _Should I fake it? No…_

"Sierra, it didn't work."

"It didn't? Count to ten."

So I do. "One, two, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."

Lux stifles laughter.

"What's so funny?" All I did was count to ten.

Sierra grins. "Do it again."

"One, two, three, five…"

Sierra pumps her fist. "Yes!"

"Why are you all laughing at me? I'm not hypnotized." I look over to Steela, whose eyes are completely glazed over. "If anybody's hypnotized, it's Steela."

"Right, right." Sierra turns her attention to Steela. "When I snap my fingers, you'll think you're three years old."

She snaps her fingers.

As if on cue, Steela's face changes.

First, she starts to squirm in her seat.

Then, she announces. "I'm hungry."

"There are ration bars in the kitchen," Tandin tells her, a smile lifting the ends of his mustache.

Steela's sticks out her lip. "I don't like ration bars. They're yucky."

I burst out in giggles. Steela is capital H Hypnotized.

"That's all we have," Tandin says.

"But I don't want ration bars. I want ice cream!"

"Sierra, can you hypnotize her into thinking ration bars are ice cream?" Saw asks. "Wait, can you hypnotize _all_ of us into thinking that? Those things aren't going to win any awards."

Sierra smiles, happy to be the center of attention. "Sure. Both of you, when I snap my fingers ration bars will magically become ice cream."

She snaps her fingers.

"Sierra, I'm not hypnotized. It's not going to work." I say.

Sierra smiles. "Want to count to ten again?"

No, I am not going to count to ten. All that accomplishes is laughter from the others.

Tandin releases Steela's shoulder. "Your ice cream is in the kitchen."

Steela shrieks like a toddler and races into the kitchen. When she comes back, she's holding…an ice cream sandwich? Where did she find an ice cream sandwich? We didn't bring any, and there wasn't any contraband ice cream.

Oh, I might actually be hypnotized….

It occurs to me that there are worse things in life than eating imaginary ice cream.

"Can I have some?" I ask, pointing to the ice cream bar in Steela's hand.

She shakes her head, but Tandin tells her to share and she reluctantly breaks it in half.

"It's my ice cream," she whines.

" _Share,_ Steela." He chuckles. "Maybe I should have become a foster parent. Clearly, I have a way with little children."

"I'm not a baby!" Steela protests.

"Really?" Saw goads. "How old are you?"

"Three! I'm a big girl."

Saw laughs so hard he almost falls out of his seat.

Sierra is almost vibrating with excitement. "Yes! Now, when I snap my fingers twice, you'll go back to your selves, and forget why you two are fighting."

The cheer in the room pops like a balloon.

"Sierra…" John says.

But Sierra's oblivious. She snaps her fingers twice.

Steela blinks, jolting back to reality.

"Why do I have a ration bar?" she asks.

"Ahsoka, count to ten." Lux instructs.

"One, two three, four…Sierra, did you make me forget the number four?"

"That and…something else."

Steela looks at her. "What?"

If I could erase the moment when Sierra realizes it didn't work, I would.

"Nothing," she lies.

….

Hearing everyone talk about their feelings is even more depressing after that.

 **A/N: Ahsoka would probably be less susceptible to hypnosis than Steela, considering she's force-sensitive. I hope you all enjoyed that little scene.**

 **I'd like to answer a question Beth, a guest reviewer, had as to how Lux will learn of Ahsoka's pregnancy. The one thing Steela is right about in this whole messy charade is that Ahsoka needs to tell him. But as to how he'll really find out, I guess everyone will just have to wait. : )**

 **Thank you to Beth, starwarshobbitfics, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews! And speaking of which, please drop a review in the designated box on your way out.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	9. Hero Drops A Bombshell

**CHAPTER NINE**

 **HERO**

I tap Sierra on the shoulder. "Sierra, do you mind helping Hutch make some new aliases for us?"

"Isn't that your department?"

"Usually is, but I promised Katooni she could help me in the kitchen."

That gets her attention. I never, never let anybody in the kitchen with me. Not even Hutch.

"Please?"

"Sure," She nods, a little deflated. "Is he in the common room?"

"Yes. Are you okay? You can't take Ahsoka and Steela personally right now. Ahsoka's hormones are all out of whack, and we know how Steela gets when she's on the defensive."

"The hypnosis was just a game. I'll go check on Hutch." She puts down the book she was reading and walks off toward the common

"Thanks, Sierra." I make a mental note to watch her. Ahsoka and Steela's argument looks like it's really getting under her skin. She and Lux bickered all the time, but I don't think an argument between siblings ever draws out for so long.

With Sierra on alias duty, I'm free to take Katooni into the kitchen.

"So, what are we making?" she asks.

"Well, we only have ration bars, so we're gonna have to get a little creative."

 **HUTCH**

"Remind me why we're making more ID cards." Sierra complains.

"If somebody catches on, then we have to use a new one." I repeat for only the thousandth time today. "We have to make them ahead of time so they'll be convincing. Can you think up a name for Lux?"

Sierra cracks a smile and says: "Lloyd Christmas."

"From that movie _Dumb and Dumber?"_

"Saw could be Harry Dunne."

"And your mom and dad could be Grace and Oliver Warbucks." I joke. "Tell me you've heard of Little Orphan Annie."

Sierra digs her fake ID out of her pocket. "Darn! And I liked that name, too."

"You can keep it. Not like we're going to use it, you're the only one who looks like an Annie."

She scowls and puts it back. "In all seriousness, are we going to name Lux Lloyd?"

For an answer, I enter the name David.

"Now…what kind of job does he have."

While Sierra and I are creating Lux/David's Employee of the Month award at Galactic Burger, laughing as we extol his virtues as a fry cook, I hear a crash from the kitchen.

 _"_ Everything okay in there, babe?"I yell over my shoulder.

"We're fine!" Hero calls back.

"Yes," Katooni giggles, before there's a sharp "Shh!" Doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that it's Hero.

I turn back to the computer to inspect Sierra's handiwork editing her brother's face onto a Galactic Burger employee's body.

I don't even notice I'm hungry until Hero's voice breaks through the haze of my work.

"Hutch? Will you join me for lunch?"

…..

Oh, boy. I'm doomed.

I know something's up when I see the dinner table set for two. One glass is filled with Hero's sugar-in-a-bottle pink wine, the other is a shot of the contraband whiskey. On the plates are not just mere ration sticks, but ration sticks cut up to look like my favorite food.

I, Hutch St. James, am a huge conniseur of food. Likewise, I am married to a foodie. Hero knows that my heart – and my willpower – are directly linked to my stomach.

A spread like this means one of four things.

One: It's our anniversary, and I forgot.

Two: It's Hero's birthday, and I forgot.

Three: Hero is in an especially romantic mood tonight.

Four: She's trying to butter me up.

For the sake of my marriage, please let it be Three.

"Wow, Hero." I say, carefully choosing my words.

"Ration sticks are sorry substances for nuna wings, but they'll have to do," Hero says, approaching the table. At the last second, I duck in front of her and pull her chair our.

On the not-so-off chance that I forgot something, I'd better rack up all the "good husband" points I can get.

After I sit down and we start in on our ration sticks, Hero says "So, what do you think of Katooni?"

"She's a cute kid," I admit. "Smart. You know her better than I do, though."

Hero nods. "She's really, really sweet. She just needs a little love."

"Right."

"So Hutch," she says. "Mina and I looked, and we can't find Katooni's family. Rex says the best he can do is put her in another rebel syndicate or as a handmaiden somewhere. So I've been thinking, and I checked with John and Mina…"

"Yeah…"

"Can we keep her?"

 _"Huh?"_ I cry through a mouthful of ration stick.

"Could Katooni live with us?"

I swallow my food. "Live with us? Like, _forever?"_

Hero nods.

I see where this is going and I take the other road, desperate to avoid the truth.

"We could use another-."

Hero gives me the look that says I've utterly missed the point.

"I don't mean it like that. By we, I mean _us._ You and me. As a family."

 _Oh, holy rupings and dalgos..._

Hero and I are a couple. This is the first time she's ever called us a "family."

Because she wants to add a person. Katooni.

As our KID.

"A-adopt Katooni?" I squeak.

And my wife, my beautiful, wonderful, U-of-Onderon-loving, culinary student, no-filter-on-her-mouth wife says the scariest thing in the Basic language.

"Yes."

My heart stops beating.

Countless systems stop spinning.

Hero's smile stops growing.

"What is it?"

"A-a kid?"

 _A kid at twenty years old? No nine month waiting period?_

I stare at her.

"You've got to admit she's grown on us," Hero argues. "She's been practically attatched to my hip ever since we found her. She needs us. We both know that kids are going to happen someday. So why not now?"

And, almost as an afterthought: "I don't have to be miserable for nine months this way."

 _Alright, how do I not sound like an idiot?_

"Hero…"

"Hutch?"

"I don't think I can."

Hero sets her fork down.

"Why? What's wrong?"

I sit up even straighter than I already was, as if my spine is brittle. "She's a sweet kid, she really is. But it was just my mom and I when I was a kid, so…"

"Hutch, you would make a great dad! Sure, you can be a slob, you sometimes act like a frat boy, and you're obsessed with the Rupings, but you are loving, and patient, and kind. That's why I married you."

"How am I supposed to be a dad if I never had a dad to begin with? I don't know what I'm doing."

Hero waves her hands "Watch John. Watch Tandin when he's with the Gerreras. Katooni doesn't need perfect parents, she just needs _somebody."_

I wince. "I'm sorry, Hero. I-I just don't think I can do it."

Hero sits there for a minute. When she stands, dabbing at her eyes, it registers that I've made a horrible mistake.

"Hero, wait."

"Save it, Hutch." She says scathingly as she leaves the room. "Just save it."

 **THIRD PERSON**

When someone enters John and Mina's room without knocking, he can safely assume it's Mina. Sometimes Sierra, when she's in a hurry and forgets.

Never, not once in his life, has it been Hutch St. James.

"Hutch?"

"I screwed up."

"What's wrong?"

Hutch doesn't bother to shut the door. "Hero wants to adopt Katooni and I said no."

 _Well_ , John thinks, _that was a rather lot of information condensed into one sentence._

"Why?"

"I don't even know why!" He cries. "We're twenty years old. We've only been married for about a year, and it's not like we have any money. We're on the run from the Empire."

"So is Katooni," John points out.

But Hutch is on a roll. "We're con artists. _Thieves!_ How are thieves supposed to raise a kid? _"_

John grabs his shoulders. "Hutch. Breathe."

Hutch takes a deep breath in through his nose, and out through his mouth. 

….

"Steela, your room. Now."

Steela knows she's in it deep when Lux and Sierra take a step back away from her and their mother.

She follows Mina to her and Sierra's room and Mina motions for her to take a seat.

"All right, young lady. I understand that you're concerned about Ahsoka and the baby, but this is getting out of hand."

…..

"All right, now that you're actually breathing, why don't you want to adopt Katooni?"

Hutch waves his hands wildly. "I told you. We're too young, and we don't have enough money."

John takes off the kid gloves. "You know that money isn't an issue. We can always go steal more from the Empire. So what's the real problem?"

"Huh?"

"Why don't you want to be a father, Hutch?"

….

"Are you serious?" Steela asks.

"I'm completely serious. If this wasn't such a sensitive subject, then I would have Tandin talking to you."

That certainly gets Steela's attention. If Mina would have called Tandin in, then this is major.

"Steela, do you remember what I told you about the problems I had while I was carrying Sierra?"

"Yes." She can't remember the term for it, so she says "You had that disease with the seizures and the high blood pressure. Why? Does she have it?"

"No, Steela. I'm saying this because this argument is _giving_ Ahsoka high blood pressure."

….

"Why don't I want to be a father?" Hutch echoes.

"Are you afraid of not being able to provide for Katooni?"

Hutch shook his head. "No. I was raised by a single mom, but we always scraped up enough to eat and pay the rent."

 _Bingo._

"Single mom?"

"Yeah. She was a merchant."

"What about your dad?"

"Never knew him."

….

"I'm just trying to help!"

"I understand," Mina says. "However, the way you're going about doing it is destructive."

"Destructive?"

Mina speaks clearly. "Steela, when I found out I was pregnant with Lux, John was with me. We looked at the test strip together. But when I was going to have Sierra, I took it by myself. I hope you never know how scary it is to look at a positive pregnancy test all by yourself."

"You did?"

"I wasn't thinking about how excited I was that I was going to have another baby. I wasn't thinking how Lux was going to have a little sibling. I was thinking 'Oh my God, how am I going to tell John?'."

"It was that bad?"

"When John walked in the door, I handed him the test strip. I couldn't say anything I was so scared."

…

"I'm sorry if this is out of line. But is that why you don't want to adopt Katooni? You never had a dad in the first place?"

Hutch jumps. "No!"

John raises his eyebrow.

"…Maybe."

"It's fine if it is."

"I don't know how to be a dad, John. Hero had her mom, but what am I supposed to do?"

John puts his hand on Hutch's shoulder. "Parenthood is a big deal, just like marriage. You're a good husband, even though you never had a model for a husband."

"Yeah, but that's _Hero."_ Hutch frets. "She's cool. She knows how my head works, and I know how hers works. If I screw up, she understands. But a _kid?_ If you screw up with a kid, then you're toast!"

John carefully selects his words. "Hutch, every parent messes up. Mina and I messed up with Lux and Sierra, Tandin messed up when he didn't rescue Steela, and they're all fine."

"Those were normal kids," Hutch frets, slowly making a turn into hysteria. "Not ex-Jedi younglings who watched all their friends die."

….

"Well, what do I do?" Steela asks.

Mina takes her hands. "You're smart. You already know you have to apologize."

"Apologize?"

"If Ahsoka rooted through your room, divulged a personal secret, and then reprimanded you for it, wouldn't you want an apology?"

"I know I have to, Mina. God, what was I thinking back there?"

Mina decides to be blunt. "You weren't."

Steela carefully pulls her hands back. "Oh, I'm in it deep…"

"If I were you, I would attach a peace offering to that apology." Mina says, and leaves Steela alone.

….

"All she needs is love," John tells Hutch. "She just needs someone to love and support her through everything, and you and Hero can do that. You understand?"

Hutch straightens up.

"Yeah, I can. I just…need some time. Some time to think it over."

"Fair enough." John concedes. "But you listen to me, Hutch. _You can do this."_

Hutch chooses not to reply as he leaves the room.

 **A/N: Now both Hutch and Steela are in the doghouse. I guess things can only get worse before they improve.**

 **Thank you to Beth, starwarshobbitfics, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. And speaking of them, please review! Reviews make me happier than a change in the Jedi Code would make Anakin Skywalker happy.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	10. Babies Ever After

**CHAPTER TEN**

 **AHSOKA**

I've just finished my morning sickness routine when somebody knocks on my door.

"Lux?"

The person clears their throat. "No. It's me, Steela. The others are eating breakfast."

I open the door. "Steela, I don't want to hear it."

Steela takes a step back as if my resentment has literally pushed her. "I'm not here to yell at you. I'm here to apologize."

"Apologize?" This is new. "So, who sent you?"

Steela pauses, and then says "Mina.

"But," she hastens to say, "I'm not here just because of that. I messed up big time when I went through your stuff."

"Really? Tell me something I don't know."

"When I saw the vitamins I panicked and when I panic, I do stupid things. Everyone in here knows that."

Oh, I sure do. Tandin managed to halt Steela's wedding-related panic before it got too serious, but I had nightmares about her snapping and going crazy if he hadn't.

"Continue."

Steela shifts her weight to one foot, then the other. "I'm sorry. I really am, and I know that you're probably not going to just let it go because if it were my baby I wouldn't either, but if you can find it in you for be the bigger person and forgive me…"

She holds something up.

"I made something for the baby."

The gift in question is a tooka doll fashioned from a fabric which looks suspiciously like one of Steela's shirts. It has two black buttons for eyes, and squishes in my hands.

It's the perfect thing to put in a baby's crib.

I look up at her, and for the first time I see the poorly concealed hope written all over her face.

Steela knows the gravity of what she's done.

Steela is genuinely sorry and starting to make it up to me with this baby gift.

And I am not going to throw away a friendship that survived the Onderon rebellion, the Lazarus Project, and two years of being roommates, so easily.

I lower the toy. "Thank you."

Steela nods. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

I inspect the fabric. "Hold on. Is this your shirt?"

Steela nods. "Didn't exactly have a lot of spare cloth lying around. I have enough shirts though, it's fine."

"They're going to love it." I smile, waving one of the tooka's arms. "Just watch. It'll be one of those things that I'll have to wait until they're asleep before I can wash it".

The hope on Steela's face is definitely increasing. "As long as they like it."

"Thank you!" I smile, and wrap her in a bear hug.

Steela stiffens for a second, and then relaxes and hugs me back.

"So, we can speak to each other again?"

"Yes." I let her go. "Just remember that the hormones might make me go a little crazy later on so I might yell at you."

"I can deal with that," she says. "Uh…do you know what you're having? With the Force and all?"

I shake my head. "No. I want to be surprised."

She looks at my stomach, and says "Girl."

"Girl? What makes you say it's a girl?"

"Because if it's a boy, I owe Sierra ten credits."

….

I'm glad the whole fiasco with Steela has faded. At least, until the hormones kick in and she's firmly in my crosshairs again.

But in her sea of wrongdoing, there was one buoy of truth. I can't keep hiding this forever, and there's one person in this galaxy who deserves to know. 

"Lux?"

Lux takes a sip of milk. "Yes?"

 _Okay, Ahsoka. Just do this directly, don't beat around the bush._

"I'm pregnant."

Lux spits his milk.

"WHAT?"

"I'm pregnant." I repeat.

He sets his glass down and faces me.

"A-are you sure?" he asks in disbelief, taking slow, shaky steps toward me.

 _Oh boy. I know this. This is the onset of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", also known as Lux's abnormal panic routine._

I nod mutely.

Lux's face breaks into a grin. "Really? We have a baby?"

He wastes no time grabbing me and pressing his lips against mine. His whole body is trembling with excitement.

"Lux?"

Lux kisses me once more. If his smile got any bigger, his face would crack in half.

 _"Best day ever!"_ he cheers, spinning me in a circle.

He runs from the room and into the hallway, pulling me by my hand. "Saw! Hutch! Ahsoka's pregnant! _Pregnant!_ We have a baby! I'm going to be a father!"

Saw's eyes nearly bulge out of his head and all he can manage is a "Huh?"

"Are you serious?" Hutch asks.

Lux nods. "I'm in shock. Oh...I'm in shock."

Saw claps Lux on the back and squeezes one of my shoulders. "Congratulations, you two."

Hutch nods in his typical terse style. "Yeah. Congratulations."

Still giddy as a schoolgirl, Lux drags me back toward his parents' cabin.

"Mom and Dad! You're going to be grandparents."

John blinks. "Ahsoka, you're pregnant?"

"Yes," I smile. "I think I'm about ten weeks."

My father-in-law holds a hand over his mouth. "Really?"

Well. If there was any question, it's abolished now: Lux is John Bonteri's son.

He looks over at Mina. "Mina, you aren't… _did you know?"_

"What can I say, John? I've been there before. I can tell."

Thank goodness Mina has a filter.

John hugs first Lux, then me. He and Mina wish us well, ask me if I've had awful morning sickness (Mina didn't) and Lux if I've thrown anything at him yet (That happened to John).

But the real tell of how John feels about being a grandfather comes when he thinks we're out of earshot.

"I've only been so happy one other time in my life,"

"Really?" Mina asks. "When?"

"When we found out Lux and Sierra were alive."

 **HUTCH**

I need some time to relax tonight. Just an hour or two to digest everything that's happened. And what better thing to do than sit in front of the University of Onderon game with Saw?

Currently, the team is down six to nothing.

"Tell me," Saw asks. "Why do we watch these guys when all they ever do is lose?"

"Because we're just that devoted of fans,"

"Devoted fans, or masochists?" Saw mutters.

The University of Onderon couldn't have timed their score better.

Saw and I are so busy cheering that we almost don't hear Katooni's steps.

"What are you guys watching?" she asks.

"It's a bolo-ball game." I say, keeping my eyes glued to the screen.

My hair stands on end. I don't think anyone can blame me for being nervous around Katooni (though Hero would beg to differ), and I'm still not sold on the whole "adoption" idea. My mom was a mom at nineteen, and look how well that turned out for her. She spent her whole life slaving to provide for me.

"Oh. Can I watch?"

"Sure, sure." Saw says, scooting over to make room.

Katooni wedges herself between me and the armrest, prompting me to scoot into the few inches of room Saw made and hold my hands in front of my versus at my sides.

"So, who do we like?" she asks.

"We like the Rupings," I tell her.

"Oh," Katooni makes herself comfortable, and then asks: "What colors are they wearing?"

"The blue and orange."

 _Come on, Hutch. You were a curious kid once, you probably asked more questions than Katooni is. Anyway, it's not like U of Onderon is doing anything at the moment except losing._

"Okay. Can I have some of your chips?"

Saw deposits the bowl of snacks onto my lap, and Katooni's little hand reaches in to grab a handful.

Just then, there's a triumphant sound from the TV.

 _"Score, University of Onderon!"_

"YEAHHH!"

"That's two scores in two minutes! They might actually win!"

"Go Rupings! Go University of Onderon!" Katooni cheers.

Saw reaches across me and taps her on the shoulder. "After every score, they sing the fight song. They put the words on the screen, so you can sing along with us."

" _On Onderon there is a team that's known throughout the land…"_ I belt out.

It takes Katooni a few seconds to get the melody down, but soon she's singing right along with us _"Old Iziz field will hear again, the Ruping battle cry!"_

As Hero would put it, I've brought Katooni over to my version of the Dark Side: the wonderful world of bolo-ball.

 _I would like a kid who likes to watch bolo-ball with me - Hutch, are you losing your mind?_

When the song ends, Katooni leans back in her seat. "This is fun, Hutch. I'm going to miss it when I leave."

I stop. "Leave? Why would you leave?"

Katooni wrings her hands. "You all have been really nice to me, especially Hero and Mina. I don't want to be a bother to any of you, so I figured I'd ask Hondo if he could take care of me."

"Hondo? Isn't he the pirate who brought us rocket launchers during the rebellion?"

I remember that crusty old pirate, for sure. The first thing he did when he dropped off the rockets was ogle Steela and announce "Well, _you_ could be my new favorite _spice."_

Thank the Lord Steela had the self-control to say "Yeah, I don't think so" and not just shoot him.

Katooni nods. "Yes. He helped me build my lightsaber. I think he likes me enough to let me live with him."

 _Oh,_ _ **hell**_ _no!_

Katooni's eyes are re-glued to the Rupings game, but Saw is giving me the look. The look that says: this is it. This is your last chance to redeem yourself.

And then he gets up and walks out of the room.

I mute the TV.

"Katooni, listen to me."

Have I lost my mind? Probably. But losing my mind is better than losing my marriage.

"Hero and I were talking. If you want, you can stay with us."

The youngling takes her eyes from the TV. "You want me to live with you?"

"Well…yes."

A gasp comes from the door. I turn around.

It's Hero. Behind her, I see Saw making a quick retreat.

"Um, hi Hero. Katooni and I were just-."

"You're serious?" Hero asks. "Hutch, you really want to do this?"

I nod. "If it's okay with the both of you."

 _"You know full well it's okay with me, Hutch St. James!"_ Hero thunders.

I turn back to Katooni. "So, what do you say? Do you want to stay with us?"

"You don't have to decide right away," Hero hastens to say. "You can have some time to think if you want."

Even from this distance, I can see how tense Hero is.

Katooni swallows hard, and gives us her answer.

"I would love to."

And then, as if all her puppet strings have been cut, Hero runs forward blubbering.

….

Hours later, Saw tells me that the University of Onderon lost their game. For the first time, I don't really care.

Katooni, on the other hand, is humming "Ruping Battle Cry".

"Katooni, is that the University of Onderon fight song?" Hero asks.

Katooni nods.

"I can't believe this," Hero whispers into my ear. "We haven't even adopted the kid yet, and you've already turned her into a hardcore fan!"

 **(A/N: The University of Onderon fight song is an adaptation of the Ohio State Buckeyes'. Even though the Buckeyes are the only sports team I care about, I don't own them. Also, go Bucks!**

 **A response to Beth's review: I take it you also enjoy the movie** _ **Dumb & Dumber **_**? I'm glad you like the fake names. (In case anyone else didn't catch it, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne are the markedly brainless protagonists of said movie.)**

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, Johnt1234, and Beth for your lovely reviews. And speaking of which, please leave a review on your way out. As Johnt1234 says, I update pretty fast and that machine runs on review power!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	11. We Push the Empire

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

" _Let's go steal the Department of Defense."_

" _Isn't that treason?"_

" _We'll give it back."_

 _-Nate and Parker, Leverage_

 **LUX**

A life of crime is far more expensive than I first fathomed.

When we made a pit stop at some planet whose name I don't care about, we had to buy more ear comlinks to cover the rest of the crew. We had to buy costumes and props.

My favorite expedition was the one for baby supplies and maternity clothes. There's something about buying a crib that makes the reality of having a baby sink in.

I almost asked Ahsoka what she was doing picking up a pregnancy handbook and a book of baby names until I realized: _Oh, yes. You might want to look over those too, Lux, because you're going to have a baby._

In all the craziness that's transpired over the last week, we sort of forgot that ships require fuel to run.

A trip from Onderon to Endor takes up a lot of fuel, and the items we bought were not exactly cheap.

Dad puts the receipt for the fuel on the table in the common area, and Rex's eyes bulge at the amount.

"That much?"

"Oh, yes." Dad says, sitting next to Mom. "That much. Old Hal the butcher barely managed to cover our expenses."

"So, I take it another scam is in order?"

"I don't think that should be a problem." Saw says.

He hasn't even finished the sentence before Mom and Steela sit up as if a warning bell has sounded off in their brains.

"Whatever it is, no." Mom announces.

Saw slinks down in his chair.

Rex puts his hands together. "According to hacked HoloMails, there's going to be a gala on Eriadu to, quote, 'convince' the leaders of some hesitant worlds to join the Empire."

"And this involves us..?" Sierra prompts.

"Patience, Sierra." Ahsoka reprimands.

Rex ignores the little exchange. "Eriadu is Tarkin's home world. The gala will be held at his personal estate."

"Why his personal estate?"

"Tarkin has just recently bought this land back," Tandin explains. "The courts seized it in order to cover the Lazaruses' compensation payments. Now that he's robbed us, he had enough to re-purchase the house and its contents. He wants to show off his wealth, to boat that he's powerful again."

I have a sneaking suspicion I know what he wants to do, and it excites me to no end.

"Are we going to burglarize Tarkin?" I ask excitedly.

"Yes." Rex affirms.

"I wouldn't say _burglarize,"_ John says. "I would say _collecting a debt without permission, in the form of Tarkin's personal belongings."_

Mom playfully slaps his arm. _"John."_

"It's the truth. Are you in?"

"You know, when I was a little girl I never thought one day I would work for a crime syndicate." Mom sighs. "But yes. I am…Lord have mercy."

She points to Ahsoka. "Just so you're prepared, this is what you get into when you marry a Bonteri!"

The room laughs.

"You know what? We haven't heard of a wedding in a while." Hero jokes. "Steela, you should get married."

"To who? Rex?"

Rex stiffens.

An evil, immature thought pops into my head.

 _Don't say it, Lux,_ Shoulder Angel says.

Meanwhile, Devil is leaning into my ear and repeating _Do it, do it, do it, do it!_

I regress to a twelve-year-old maturity level and state "Guys, but listen to this… Sierra Gerrera."

Sierra turns red. _"Lux!"_

"Bonteri!" Saw snaps.

"It rhymes!" Katooni notices.

Saw buries his head in his hands. "Lux, that is just… _no."_

"No" is right. Saw and Sierra are six years apart.

But through the laughter, I can see a faint sparkle in Saw's eye.

He's up to something.

I'd better hang on to my hat.

…

Saw tells Hutch and me the plan when the others have gone to bed.

"You are not serious." Is the first thing out of Hutch's mouth.

"We need money to tide us over to Eriadu. Why not get it here."

Hutch lurches over and grabs the front of Saw's shirt. "Saw. I was a cashier. They all have panic buttons, and some of us even had stun blasters to defend ourselves!"

"Well, if we come with some of our own it shouldn't be a problem."

"Don't we need a getaway speeder?" I ask.

"No. It's right on the corner, running back will be a piece of cake."

…..

 _"Give us all your money!"_

Saw waves a stun gun in the gas station attendant's face while the zit-faced teenager empties the cash register as fast as he can.

I'm running through the store, stuffing various snacks into my bag while Hutch watches the door for police, not at all pleased about our dabbling into armed robbery.

"Fill the bag! Fill it!" Saw orders, imitating a robber from some movie.

"H-here!" the cashier thrusts the bag back at Saw. "Take it!"

Hutch and I are out the door before Saw is.

"Why is everyone staring at us?" he asks, clutching the money bag.

I look over at him. "Because you haven't taken off your ski mask, Einstein."

Why Saw even thought to bring that, I don't know. He pulls it off and stuffs it in the bag of loot.

"Why…didn't…we…bring…a….getaway…speeder?" Hutch half-puffs half-laments.

"Don't worry about it." Saw says. "Look, we already fired up the engines on the ship and the cops around here are -."

 _WEEEEOOOOOWWWW WEEEOWWW_

"You were saying about the cops?"

"It ain't far! Just keep going!"

I open the bay doors and jump in, slamming them behind us.

Saw stumbles off to the cockpit to take off, nearly tripping over Tandin who's demanded an explanation.

Hero storms in from around the corner. "Katooni just fell asleep, and if you've woken her up I'm not going to be very – Hutch St. James, what is that?"

Hutch looks down at the loot bag. "It was Saw's idea, babe!"

"Does that have something to do with the sirens I hear outside?"

"Maybe."

Hero sighs. "Nevermind. We'll be stealing a whole lot more once we get to Eriadu."

 **JOHN**

Most parties like this have involved me being paraded around with Mina on my arm, passively sipping on champagne while ransacking my brains for something witty to say, and ignoring the whispers from Mina's political rivals about _why would Senator Bonteri marry a prison guard?_

The answer: Mina and I met when we were in college, and we hit it off right away.

On one particularly biting occasion, Mina and I attended a gala while she was pregnant. Some senator said that she must love making her home if she was having not one, but two children. Mina just dug her nails into my arm and said, tight-lipped, "We're both very excited."

But there are no scathing remarks this time. Only fine champagne, stiff dignitaries, and a cocky businessman named Rick Randolph.

Rick Randolph is the head of a fuel company. Unmarried, but he has a string of rather temporary girlfriends. His favorite colors are the silver and gold of credits, and the cherry red of his flashy speeder.

His favorite pastimes include sleeping off a tranquilizer while I stole his suit and took his limo to this party.

Luckily, I'm not alone. If I glance across the room, I can see a server named Heather (Hero) offering champagne.

Trying not to drop her burden, Sierra takes coats.

And right about now, a maid named Tess (Steela), a laundry worker named Burt (Saw), and a dishwasher named Vincent (Hutch) should be letting a valet named David (Lux) and Rex the limo driver in through the laundry room window.

I have one objective: to distract the living hell out of Tarkin.

He's on the other side of the room. John Bonteri is polite, but Rick Randolph just shoves past everyone and steps up to Tarkin.

"Mr. Tarkin!"

Tarkin stiffens. _"Grand Moff,_ if you please. And you are..?"

I grab his hand and pump it in a handshake that's a little too firm and jerky. God, I love this character.

"Rick Randolph, CEO of Malastare Fuel Co. You keep on buyin', we'll keep those ships a-flyin'!"

Tarkin wipes his hand on his pants leg. "Yes, the Empire looks forward to conducting business with you in the future," he says icily, and starts to walk away.

 _Uh-oh. Keep him distracted, John!_

"Oh, same to you," I say cheerily, locking step with him again. "It's certainly about time someone got rid of those Jedi. Always sticking their lightsabers into our fuel dealings with their "ethics" and all that "will of the force" mumbo-jumbo. I always liked to deal with the Republic straight out. Less messy that way, and I didn't have to sit through a sermon every time I breathed."

"I believe you will find the Galactic Empire to your liking, then."

"I know I will. You know, we have more in common that I'd have thought!"

Tarkin breathes deeply.

"Yes. Excuse me, Mr. Randolph." He says, and walks away at a clip even Rick Randolph can't keep up with.

I grab some kind of hor d'oveur off a passing tray and start to eat it nervously.

 _All right, kids. I've done my part, now it's your turn. Let's get out of here before Tarkin even manages to stop feeling annoyed at Rick Randolph._

 **LUX**

Hutch, Steela, and Saw let us in through a window into a hot room that smells like bleach and sweat.

"Smells like my old barracks," Rex muses.

"Welcome to the laundry room," Saw says dryly, wiping his brow with the sleeve of his laundry worker uniform. He's been in here all day while I've been parking cars, Hutch washing dishes, Steela scrubbing floors, and Rex driving Rick Randolph's stolen limo.

"All right. The sooner we get the loot, the sooner we can get out of these stupid uniforms." I announce.

"Halleluiah," Saw says. "My back hurts so bad."

"You weren't the one scrubbing floors in this stiff, too-small dress." Steela complains.

"You know they use simmering water for dishes?" Hutch asks, holding up his beet-red hands.

"Stop whining like shinies," Rex barks. "Steela, did you find anything of value while you were cleaning?"

"Plenty. Gold and precious metals, artwork, expensive electronics-."

"Let's focus on the precious metals. There's always a market for those. Where are they?"

"Ah, some are on display. The others are in a safe, I think."

"Take us to them."

Using Steela's badge and the cover of uniforms (nobody notices the help, even a mongrel group like ours), we sneak into a room with thick red carpeting that apparently took an hour for Steela to vacuum. ("And if you so much as breathe on the windows, so help me God…")

The safe is huge, silver, and ugly, built into the wall. The pieces on display are mainly gold and silver statues that Hutch and I pick up quickly as we picked up items from the convenience store which caused armed robbery to be tacked to our list of charges.

Rex has his ear against the safe, listening to the tumblers as he twists the knob.

"Come on, safecracking class. Come back to me…"

He listens for a few more seconds, and then mutters something akin to "Ah, forget it," pulls a laser cutter from his utility belt, and slices through. So much for subtlety.

I look inside, and nearly choke.

 _That's practically enough gold bars to live off for a year, no problem!_

I turn around, staring at Saw.

The only thing I can think to say is "How are we gonna carry all this?"

 **THIRD PERSON**

In Grand Moff Tarkin's mansion, the rebels sneak a laundry cart full of gold bars into the garage, where Mina, Katooni, and Tandin help them load the plunder into the ship.

In the party, "Rick Randolph" gives Hero and his daughter the signal while Sierra gets his coat from coat check.

 _We have to get out of here,_ Sierra thinks. _But how? People are going to notice if Hero and I just drop out._

 _Unless…_

She waits until Hero gets within ten feet of coat check, and then Sierra falls to the floor, twitching.

One of the guests takes a step back. "What's going on?"

Hero darts forward. "I'm sorry! This is my little cousin, and she's got this disease! Anemia. Or hypoglycemia. Some kind of 'emia.' All she needs is air!" she squeaks, grabbing Sierra under the arms and zooming outside. In all probability this is an act, but Hero's not taking any chances in case this is an actual medical emergency.

Once the door shuts, Sierra stops her act.

"I learned to do that to scare Lux," she crows.

…

While waiting for their friends to show up, Steela walks up to Tarkin's speeder, her old house keys in her hand.

With the precision of a surgeon she drags the keys across the speeder, leaving shards of paint on the floor beneath her feet.

When she's done keying the speeder, Saw is more than happy to smash its bumper to a twisted wreck.

Hutch finds great joy in permanently tuning the radio to a station which plays Tarkin's least favorite music.

Lux takes a knife to the unholstery.

And Mina mutters something about her children before throwing a rock through the windshield.

The rebels leave a picked-clean display shelf, an empty safe, and a ruined speeder.

…..

The next morning, Tarkin thinks smugly on the rebels' shortsightedness.

Of course, they may have taken some of his nice things, but he wasn't so foolish as not to have them heavily insured.

He calls the insurance company to collect his payment.

 _"Good afternoon. This is Zaa from Guardian Angel insurance company. How may I help you today?"_

"This is Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin." Tarkin snapped into the phone, writing down the tech' name so he knew who was responsible for anything that went wrong. "I have been robbed and vandalized by criminals, and I am ordering my policy be fulfilled."

 _"Of course. Now, could I just have your policy number?"_

The tech takes stock of the damage quickly, and assures him that he'll be receiving a credit transfer the next day.

But the next day comes, and there is no credit transfer.

Armed with the little slip of flimsy bearing the tech's name, Tarkin shuffles through his business cards looking for his insurance company when he realizes he can't find it. He looks it up on the HoloNet.

 _"Good morning. This is Jake from Guardian Angel insurance -."_

"Connect me to your manager!"

He's put on hold, and then receives the manager.

"I was supposed to receive a credit transfer yesterday, and nothing has happened."

 _"If I could please have your policy number, I could look it up for you,"_ the manager says.

A short pause later, and the voice is back on the line.

 _"I'm sorry, sir."_ The manager says _. "But it seems your claim has already been paid."_

 **(A/N: Paid…but that's impossible! Or is it?**

 **In response to Beth's review about how old our characters were, I decided to post a comprehensive list. In this AU…**

 **Ahsoka, Lux, and Steela are eighteen.**

 **Hutch and Hero are twenty.**

 **Saw is twenty-one.**

 **Sierra is fifteen.**

 **Katooni is ten.**

 **Biologically, Rex is twenty-four.**

 **John is forty-nine and Mina is forty-eight.**

 **And Tandin is well into his sixties.**

 **So yes, Ahsoka is technically a teen mom, but she is a legal adult.**

 **Thank you Beth, 082 Martian Scout, StarwarsRulz, Johnt1234, and Guest for your reviews. And speaking of reviews, please leave one on your way out.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister)**


	12. The Empire Pushes Back

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

" _He who looks for hidden money shall find it._ If _he is also a thief."_

 _-Parker from "Leverage"_

While pretending to dust Tarkin's office, a maid crept over to his business card holder and found the one from Guardian Angel insurance company.

"Now Mr. Tarkin," Steela said, smirking as she replaced the card with one of her own. "Revenge is mine."

Later…

"Good afternoon. This is Zaa from Guardian Angel insurance company, how may I help you today?"

 _"This is Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. I have been robbed and vandalized by criminals, and I am ordering my policy be fulfilled."_

"Zaa" smiled.

"Of course," Ahsoka Tano chirped. "Now, could I just have your policy number?"

…

"This is Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin." King Tandin said into the phone with his best Tarkin impression. "My estate has been robbed and vandalized by criminals!"

 _"Oh, I'm so sorry sir."_ Said the legitimate tech from Guardian Angel insurance company. _"Can I have your policy number?"_

Tandin gave it, and then made another request.

"I would like the money in a cash transfer to this Nubian bank account, please."

After that, all he had to do was watch as the rebels' bank account filled before his royal eyes.

…

"That's impossible!" Tarkin bellows. "The tech said it would be paid today."

 _"Do you remember her name, sir?"_

Tarkin glances down at the slip of paper. Oh, heads were going to roll today.

"Zaa!"

There is an uncomfortable silence on the other line.

 _"Sir, we don't have a tech named Zaa."_

"I wrote her name down when I talked to her!"

The manager sounds extremely nervous. _"Sir, is it possible you may have dialed a different number?"_

Tarkin snorts, but brings up his call log.

And then freezes.

And hangs up.

 **Four months later**

 **MINA**

While Ahsoka is napping, the rest of us gather in the common room armed with craft supplies and tools.

"This is such a good idea," Steela says to me as she sets down her load. "The only problem is assembling them."

"That shouldn't be too hard. It's not like it's rocket science," Tandin says, taking the crib out of the box.

John looks at him. "Have you ever set one of these up before?"

 _You underestimate the power of some-assembly-required cribs to be so complicated,_ I think.

In a few minutes, I'm proven right. Tandin and John are struggling to find Bolt A, which apparently goes in Slot A.

Meanwhile, I catch a glimpse of Hero decorating a diaper bag. Steela is sitting across from her, painstakingly embroidering eyes onto the peace offering tooka. Apparently, Lux told her that the baby could choke on the original button eyes.

Lux and Saw are arguing over the right way to set up a bouncy seat.

Hutch and Katooni are painting a rattle blue and orange.

I focus on hanging paper chains around the room.

We wait in the common room among the decorations and the assembled baby supplies for Lux to go get Ahsoka from their bedroom.

"What's going on again, Lux? I'm so tired."

"Trust me. You're going to love it."

"SURPRISE!"

Ahsoka walks through the doorway, belly swollen with the beginnings of her baby bump. Her morning sickness has begun to wind down, and she is enjoying my personal favorite part of pregnancy: eating. Case in point: Today at lunch, she polished off her sandwich and chips, half of Saw's ration bar and Lux's apple.

"What's going on?" She asks.

Steela holds up the improved tooka. "It's your baby shower!"

Ahsoka's eyes widen, and then reduce to normal size. "Really? This early?"

"Yeah!" Saw says. "For your presents, we assembled all your stuff."

John and Tandin are still wrestling with the blasted crib. This time they're trying to get the last piece of the bars on.

"Remember what I said about being a parent?" Tandin mutters. "I recant it if it means you have to assemble these things."

Ahsoka takes the tooka from Steela, admiring the new embroidered eyes "I know I suck at it, but the baby could choke on the buttons." "They look great, Steela. Hey John, do we have any pickles?" "Yes. I would get them for you, but if I let go of this crib Tandin might stab me with Bolt K.")

She examines the rattle from Katooni.

"Is this in University of Onderon colors?" she asks.

Hutch looks at the rattle, and then bellows "That's my girl!" before thumping Katooni on the back.

Hero rolls her eyes. "You've already turned Katooni into a super fan, now you're going after this poor unborn baby. What's next, getting Ahsoka one of those pregnancy belts that plays 'Ruping Battle Cry'?"

"I like it," Ahsoka glosses over, smiling at the antics of the newest family on our ship.

Rex hands her a toy clone trooper, armor painted like his old one.

"Here," he says gruffly, leaving us to admire the skillfully painted figurine.

John and Tandin slam the crib gate home and step back to admire their handiwork with a "Finally!"

John takes a seat next to me and we watch as Lux and Ahsoka approach the crib, lovingly placing the gifts in the crib as if it already contains a sleeping baby.

I gently nudge him. "Remember that?"

He shakes his head. "I remember putting Lux in for the first time, though."

 _I do too. John watched while I carefully set our precious son in the crib, swaddled in a blanket._

 _We had leaned over the edge of the crib, watching him sleep._

 _"He's adorable," I whispered to John, instants before Lux jolted awake, screaming._

 _And that was how we found out our bouncing baby boy had colic._

"I can't believe he's going to be a father. I feel like locking Sierra in her cabin so she can't grow up."

"Careful. If we lock Sierra in her cabin, we'd lock Steela in with her. Lord only knows what those two would come up with together." I point out.

"True."

John wraps an arm around me, almost like it's twenty-odd years earlier and he's trying to hold me and take notes one-handed as we sit together in our lecture hall.

"You know? This whole parenting thing? It's so worth it." He says.

"That's nothing new, John. We knew it was worth it when we brought Lux home from the hospital."

"Yes, and then we brought Sierra home and it wasn't just going to be mommy, daddy, and new baby. There was another, three-year-old person in the house who seemed to be actively seeking ways to do himself in. That's when we realized we were really in for a ride."

Lux and Sierra were…interesting children to raise. Case in point: when Lux met his baby sister, he burst into tears because "she's all wrinkly!" As soon as he started up, Sierra started screaming as well.

"Thank you for putting this together, all of you." Ahsoka says warmly. "It would have taken Lux and I forever to do it ourselves."

"And the baby will love all the toys, too." Lux adds. "We're all so-."

The comlink rings.

Saw jogs over to check Caller ID. "It's an Onderonian area code. I'm going to cloak us with a one-way transmission."

A hologram pops up of a woman roughly Hero's age, with bobbed red hair and a hawkish face.

"Talia?" Steela asks incredulously.

 _"Steela, that better be you."_ Talia says.

"It is, Tally. And the others are with me. How's everyone holding up?"

The use of her nickname seems to put Talia at ease.

 _"Actually…not so well."_

"Why, what happened?"

Talia brightens a little. _"First the good news: Alex and Valerie got engaged."_

I rack my mind, but I can't remember any rebels named Alex or Valerie. Still, there were a lot of them and I was busy. "That's great!"

 _"And on the flip side, it looks like we're going to be holding the wedding in the middle of the jungle. Because we're currently hiding in it."_

"I thought you took over one of our older base camps." Lux says.

 _"We did. But the Empire found us, and we had to make a run for it."_

"How much damage was there?"

 _"An entire squad dead, and we had to leave almost everything behind. We only have the blasters and ammunition we could carry, and don't even get me started on the living situation. We're running out of food, and a bunch of people ate the wrong berries and are currently throwing up their guts."_

"Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good." Hutch winces.

 _"I hate to do this, I really do. But can you guys help us out?"_

The answer is obvious. We have eight gold bars burning a hole in our safe.

Ahsoka has the same thought. "We can give you funding. Just tell us where you are."

 **LUX**

Years ago, when I first joined the rebels, my first impression of their base camp was _well, this is a dump._

That base camp was a paradise compared to the meeting place Tally's set up for us. It's nothing more than a clearing in the jungle.

"Are you sure we're at the right coordinates?" Ahsoka asks.

Hutch looks down at his datapad. "The GPS says so."

"Does this look familiar to any of you?" John asks.

Steela shakes her head. "I don't think I've ever been here before. She must be cautious after the attack."

"She's right to be. If they get caught again, they're good as cooked." Ahsoka points out, rubbing her belly.

I feel a twinge of sympathy pain. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Ahsoka rolls her eyes. "A little walk isn't going to kill me, Lux. Just wait until I'm nine months pregnant."

Dad jumps in to the conversation. "I think that would be an excellent time to start our little vacation, so Ahsoka can have the baby in peace."

"Sounds like a plan." I agree. That'll be nice, having a few weeks to ourselves to get ready for the baby.

"Yeah," Saw grumbles. "I just wish they would hurry it up. I'm sick of lugging around this backpack."

Steela cracks a smile. "Isn't our fault you drew the short straw and had to carry the gold."

Saw drops the pack. "You pick this up!"

Steela opens her mouth for a witty remark, but she's cut off by an unlikely sound.

A groan.

All conversation stops as hands reach for blasters and lightsabers, our ears wide open.

A shape rises from the edge of the trees. Short. Male. And…stumbling?

I shade my eyes and it hits me: I know this guy. He broke up Dono and Hero's fight during the rebellion.

Steela stares through the scope of her rifle. "Something's off, you guys. Why isn't Talia here?"

"Saw?" The rebel groans. "Steela?"

Hutch lowers his blasters. "Guys, that's Dono's friend. And he looks like he's hurt."

"I see him," Steela says tersely, and calls out to the rebel. "We're here. Where are the others?"

The rebel stumbles forward, landing facefirst on the dirt. Dad and Captain Rex rush to his side.

Dad rolls him over and offers his canteen, but the rebel pushes it away.

"Go! It's a trap!"

There is utter silence before Sierra shouts the shrillest "WHAT?" her vocal cords can manage.

"The Empire found us." He moans, leaning into Dad's arms. "We were taken completely off guard, we had to surrender. There's only two squads left. T-they made Talia send that message to you. Their commander held everyone and gunpoint and told her that they'd kill us if she didn't."

When he says it, I know it's true. Talia would do anything to save the lives of her troops. Even this. 

"She tried to warn you with that wedding thing. We don't have any recruit with those names.

"They were going to take us all prisoner, to torture us…we escaped. I had to warn you, that guy is crazy," his breathing is ragged, and Dad puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Rest, soldier. You did your part, we'll take it from here."

"No!" He cries, sitting up. "No, you all have to go now. They might have-."

We'll never know what they might have done, because a blaster bolt pierces his chest, ending him just as it ended Dono.

Dad drops him and pushes the rest of us away.

 _"Go!_ Get back to the ship, all of you!" He thunders.

I grab Ahsoka in one hand and Sierra in the other, and we run.

 **A/N: Uh-oh. That went downhill, fast. *Sigh* I guess we all knew the happiness couldn't last forever.**

 **Thank you to starwarshobbitfics, Beth, StarwarsRulz, and Johnt1234. To Beth: Yes, Ahsoka stayed home, but she still played her part as Zaa from the insurance company.**

 **Speaking of reviews, please drop one on your way out! They make me very, very happy and considering all my teachers and professors have decided to hold quizzes or tests next week, I could use a boost!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	13. Armageddon

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

 _It is almost certain that we will fail. But how will future history judge the German people if not even a handful of men had the courage to put an end to that criminal?_

 _-Henning Von Treschow, who masterminded several attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler_

It's not as if John Bonteri didn't know who was behind this. It's that he knows who is.

There's only one person John knows who would come up with the idea to use Tally to set the trap, and then order the rebels taken in for interrogation. Someone who ordered John around for far too long, until he drew the line.

There is no way in God's green galaxy he is allowing his friends, his children, and his unborn grandchild near Peter David Torrance.

He squeezes his eyes shut.

 _I don't want to do this,_ his panicked mind screams. _Oh God, I don't want to do this._

Every moment he holds Tor off is a moment Tor isn't chasing them, isn't initiating the best ways to cut them off from the safety of the ship. It's a moment there is no blaster bolt in Lux's chest while he bleeds out, and Tor's hands aren't wrapped around Sierra's neck. It's a moment Tandin, Saw, Steela, Hutch, and Hero aren't lying dead in the dirt, and Mina is safe watching Katooni and not the deaths of everyone she loves.

But John Bonteri doesn't want to die.

He takes a few precious seconds to close the dead rebel's eyes. At least one of them should be treated with respect.

And then he runs for cover, taking out his blaster.

Tor's footsteps, and those of the troops and another person Tor calls "Inquisitor," become ever-louder.

"There are two rebels who will be brought back alive. The first is a human male, eighteen years of age, with black hair and green eyes. The second is a human female, fifteen years of age, with brown hair and eyes. When recovered, bring them back here immediately."

"Tell me why you want these specific rebels spared?" The Inquisitor, a Mirialan woman in a dark cloak demands.

"Because, Inquisitor Offee, their father is still here. And trust me, nothing will wear down that man's soul like watching his children suffer."

John fires. Tor barely flinches.

"Inquisitor, I would like your permission to engage this menace personally."

Barriss nods.

…..

"So, Cooper was promoted in my absence?" Tor asks, calmly approaching John.

John sizes up his adversary. "He was. Where is he now?"

"Six feet under. Tried to stay at his desk to the very end."

"Did he?" He isn't particularly broken up over Cooper's death, just surprised that he'd summoned up an ounce of fortitude.

"You know how we found out it was you?" Tor asks. "You remember the profiling class we had to take. When you leave someone you love behind, there's an instinctive response to look back and see if they're still there. You only do that for family and friends. Not coat-check girls, _Rick._

"I saw it, and when I went over to investigate I couldn't help but notice that the servant girl taking coats looked _just like you."_

Blast their rotten luck. Sierra is the least recognizable of the kids, but her and John's resemblance was apparently just enough.

"You two look just alike. Her name is Samantha, right?"

John refuses to dignify that with an answer, which Tor predicted. "Oh, that's right. It's Sierra. Lux and Sierra. Mina pick out the names?"

 _She did. The deal was that I would name our son, and she would name our daughter. She wasn't that taken with "Lux", she wanted to name him Vincent. We didn't have energy to debate names when we had Sierra; it was all we could do to remember to call her Sierra and not "the baby"!_ John remembers fondly.

Tor charges, pistol out. John fires.

The Stormtroopers take their cue: blasters rise, fingers squeeze triggers.

The first shot grazes John's arm, and the second misses completely. The fourth of fifth is the charm.

A sizzling hot sensation erupts in John's side, yanking a shot from his throat and branding the disturbing sound of sizzling blood into his brain.

 _And he is a child, playing tag on a schoolyard._

John fires twice. The stormtrooper who managed to hit him falls, dead.

 _And he's graduating high school, and enlisted in the military._

Pain blurring his vision, John fires until his gun is empty. The shots hit nothing, but one gets pretty close to Tor.

 _And a woman named Mina Jefferies is sitting next to him in their psychology lecture hall._

The next blaster bolt hits him in the stomach.

Inquisitor Barriss Offee watches.

 _And he's watching Mina walk down the aisle._

John sinks to his knees. He can't hold his rifle, he can't make a sound. All he can do is press a hand to his stomach.

 _And he's nearly weeping with joy, holding a tiny bundle in his arms and naming him Lux._

Tor pulls back the slide on his sidearm. "Permission to finish him, Inquisitor?"

"Denied," Barriss says, drawing her own saber.

 _And he's taking Lux, now a toddler, to meet the new baby._

John closes his eyes.

 _And there's his family on Life Day morning. Lux and Sierra shriek with joy when they rip open their gifts, while he and Mina exchange their own tokens._

Barriss offers no glamour or fanfare for the man. She merely cuts him down.

 _And he's in his old workplace, holding Ahsoka to his chest so she won't freeze to death and thinking_ this isn't right. Oh god, this isn't right.

Barriss sheathes her lightsaber and turns away from John.

"Find those rebels!" she barks, marching away from him.

 _And he's holding his precious children after their joyous reunion._

 _And watching as Lux and Ahsoka seal their new marriage with a passionate kiss._

 _And hearing that he is to be a grandfather._

 _And this, this final sacrifice to save everyone he can._

And thus ends the life of John Bonteri. Forty-nine years young, a husband, a father, a friend, but above all a good man who stood against impossible odds to save everyone he could.

…

 _We shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom-and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside._

 _-John F. Kennedy_

The rebels knew what was happening when they left for the ship, all the way down to Sierra.

Nobody wanted to leave John behind, but it was an absolute necessity. John would never have let one of them stay behind in his place. Oh, they could have argued but they would never have won. It would take a Coruscanti lawyer to talk down the likes of John.

With feet lightened by panic but with heavy hearts, they race onto the ship. Katooni, seated in the cockpit, pulls the craft into space and sets the autopilot.

But John's absence is not lost on Mina.

"Lux, where's your father?" Mina asks, heart filling with dread.

"Mom…" Lux begins, the words sticking to his throat.

But Mina knows. She nods slowly, but every muscle in her body is tight.

They all know John knew what he was doing. His sacrifice was all for their sake. They all knew it was a risk going in. Nobody can fight an endless foe without losing friends and comrades.

Whatever they tell themselves, it doesn't make it hurt any less.

Tears run down Mina's cheeks, and Rex grabs her arm to usher her into a chair. Mina fixes her eyes on Sierra. While Lux takes off after her, this child is John's clone. She's had her father's soft brown hair and eyes ever since she was a baby.

Lux breaks. He stumbles backward and into Ahsoka's arms, choking on sobs.

"Mina," Tandin says awkwardly. "I'm so sorry."

Sierra runs from the room. If Mina was her age, she would too.

Instead, she wilts against Captain Rex and cries.

Her husband is gone.

…

" _I'm a grifter, for better or worse."_

 _-Sophie in "Leverage"_

At the worst possible time, the baby starts moving.

Ahsoka takes her hand from Lux's back and presses it to her belly as if to comfort her unborn child.

Lux sniffles. "Is he okay?"

"Yes. He's just excited from all the running. He should calm down any time now."

Lux stands up and pushes his hair from his forehead. "I need to go check on Mom. She shouldn't be all alone during this."

"I'll go with you."

Lux shakes his head. "Thank you Ahsoka, but…it needs to be just me and my mom."

"Lux, I'm not going to just sit here after this."

"Then could you go check on Sierra, please?" His voice is thin, his hand desperately squeezing hers. "I'm worried about her. She didn't take it well when the Lazarus Project came, and I'm not sure if Steela managed to get in…"

Ahsoka squeezes his hand. "Of course."

Lux nods. "Thank you," he whispers and sets off to go see his mother.

Ahsoka waddles off towards Sierra and Steela's cabin and knocks.

"Come in," Steela answers.

When Ahsoka gets the door open, it's no wonder how Steela managed to get in. Sierra's head rests in her lap, and Steela's dabbing her face with a wet washcloth. Sierra stares straight ahead.

 _I don't know what else to do,_ Steela mouths.

Ahsoka shrugs, sits down beside them, and rubs Sierra's back. For a moment that's all it is: the three of them curled on the bed in silence.

"Do you believe in God?" Sierra whispers.

Ahsoka would rather have the baby kick her kidneys. _Oh no. There's no way I'm spouting off that 'There is no death, there is the Force' line to Sierra right now, but what else am I supposed to do._

"I do," Steela says. Thank goodness for her. "When you've fallen off a cliff and you should be dead, you do a lot of thinking about things like that." She braces herself for the inevitable.

 _Well then why did God take my father?_

But instead of that bomb, Sierra drops another.

She shudders and asks "Do you believe in heaven?" 

Steela's face contorts. "Yes," she answers, wiping her tears away with her free hand.

But Sierra needs more than the monosyllable Steela can muster up, and Ahsoka has those words. She puts a hand on either side of the girl's face and turns it, making sure she looks her in the eye.

"Five years ago, I died." Ahsoka says. "I was dead, and I would have stayed that way if it wasn't for my master."

Ahsoka's hands don't clutch Sierra's face. They're gentle, imitative of Mina's, and she knows that will get Sierra's attention.

"I saw something," she enunciates each word even though her throat is closing with unshed tears. "I don't remember what it was like, but it was there."

 **A/N: Tears? Oh no, I must have something in my eyes…**

 **In advance: Sorry not sorry for killing John. I found his death to be necessary to the story, and so…**

 **Thank you starwarshobbitfics, Beth, and StarwarsRulz for your reviews. And speaking of which, please drop a review on your way out!**

 **Now, if you'll just excuse me while I go to cry and eat cookie dough.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


	14. Epilogue

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN- EPILOGUE.**

 **Four months later.**

"Lux. Lux, wake up."

Lux stirs from his deep sleep. "Soka, we have fudge brownie ice cream."

"It's not that. I think the baby's coming."

Lux sits up straight. "What?"

"I've been having cramps for about two hours now and something tells me it's not false labor." Her eyes widen, and she clutches the covers in a death grip.

Lux jumps out of bed and grabs the closest pair of pants he can find.

"Get your mom!" Ahsoka wails.

"Let me get some pants on first, Soka!"

Once he finishes zipping his fly, Lux starts to struggle to fasten his belt buckle.

"Lux, hurry!"

"I'm hurrying. I'm hurrying!"

Just then, Hero opens the door.

"All right, I don't know what kind of game you two think you're playing at four in the morning, but you woke up my Katooni. Can you please try to keep it…what's going on here?"

The contraction ends, but Ahsoka's entire body is still tense.

"Hero," she says calmly. "I'm in labor."

….

Three hours later and Ahsoka's water has yet to break.

"This isn't the worst part of labor by a long shot," Mina tells her. "But it's certainly the most boring and nerve-wracking."

To soothe Ahsoka's nerves, Hero puts on their favorite movie and Steela massages Ahsoka's shoulders while they watch _Mean Girls._ Lux is instructed to go take a nap while he still can.

"Is that better?" Steela asks, her eyes glued to the screen.

"The movie's better than the one I was watching before. That one could have been called _The Panic Routine of Lux Bonteri."_ Ahsoka says and then she gasps, resting her hands on her belly again. But this is no normal contraction. This time, it's different.

All three women pick up on the sound of something dripping onto the floor.

"W-what just happened?" Ahsoka asks.

"Ahsoka," Steela says evenly. "Your water just broke."

"Oh. So, I guess I can't take that bath then?"

"No! We're taking you to your room!"

….

While the ladies were watching the movie and Lux was napping while he still could, the rest of the crew had been frantically preparing for the new arrival.

Tandin is heating water on the stove while Rex and Saw change the bedsheets on Ahsoka and Lux's bed to waterproof plastic ones. Sierra covers the floor around the bed with plastic sheeting, and Hutch lays down maternity pads while Katooni fetches more tape, more sheeting, and some clean towels.

Meanwhile, Mina makes a cache in the corner of things she prays they're not going to need: an emergency oxygen tank, local anesthetic, and a suture kit. Right as she sets aside the shoelaces for tying off the cord, Hero and Steela lead Ahsoka into the room.

"Ahsoka, how are you doing?"

Largely assisted, Ahsoka lays down. "My water just broke."

"Sierra, wake up your brother." Mina orders, zooming off to the bathroom to scrub her hands and put gloves on. She snaps on her gloves just as Lux zooms into the room to wash his hands.

"Okay," Mina announces after she checks. "You're about four centimeters dilated."

"How far along is that?" Lux asks.

Ahsoka glares at him. "You know this. I can't start pushing until I'm at ten centi—AUGH!"

 _Well,_ Mina thinks wryly. _Things are just moving right along._

"Everyone but Lux and Rex, leave the room."

…

To the experienced eye, Ahsoka's labor is textbook perfect. To the woman currently in labor, it's mortally terrifying.

Lux can't do much besides coach Ahsoka through the contractions and offer his hand for her to squeeze.

"Lux," Ahsoka pants after a particularly nasty pain, "I feel like I need to push."

Rex turns around. "You can't push yet. You're not fully dilated!"

"Well how much bigger does this get? It's just - AUGH!"

Rex glances between Ahsoka's legs and goes pale.

"What?" Lux asks, and then shouts from Ahsoka squeezing his hand.

"Ahsoka, _don't move._ Mrs. Bonteri! We need you!"

Mina rushes through the doors and snaps on a pair of gloves. "What is it?"

"Well," Rex states matter-of-factly, "I can see the head."

Ahsoka loses it.

 _"I want Padme!"_ she wails. _"I want my master! I can't do this!"_

"Yes you can!" Lux cheers.

 _"Stop talking, Lux!"_

"Ahsoka," Mina coaches, "You're almost there. All you have to do is push. On three, you bear down as hard as you can. One…two…"

Ahsoka pushes.

"Good. Now do it again."

Ahsoka pushes again, and the baby's head emerges. Rex quickly swoops in to suction its mouth.

"One last time, Ahsoka."

 _"I can't do this! I can't!"_

Luckily for everyone in the room, Mina remembers a similar utterance spilling from her own lips, and what her mother said to her.

"Yes you can! I did it – _twice!_ Just one more push and your little baby is lying on your chest. One…two…three…"

The crushing agony disappears, and the air fills with a baby's cry. Ahsoka looks up at Lux, who's beaming down at her.

"You did it, Soka. The baby's here."

Rex ties off the cord and hands the scissors to Lux for him to cut it.

Ahsoka leans forward to catch a glimpse of Mina and Rex cleaning the baby.

"W-what is it?" she asks.

Rex hands her the baby, wrapped in a swaddling blanket.

"It's a boy."

With extreme care, Ahsoka tugs the hood of the blanket down a little bit to peer into the face of her newborn son. The baby's face is wrinkled and splotchy red, but his big eyes open and seem to look at her.

"Hi," she manages. "I'm your mommy."

"What are we going to name him?" Lux asks, gazing adoringly at his son.

Mina smiles as she finishes writing down the date and time of birth. "If I remember correctly, your favorite baby name was Tavin."

Ahsoka nods. "It was. I vote for Tavin John Bonteri."

Lux strokes the baby's cheek with the tip of his finger.

"Tavin John, welcome to the world."

….

The name Tavin lasts for about five seconds, until Hero hears it.

"He's too cute to be a Tavin," she announces. "I'm going to call him Tav. Or maybe TJ."

His proud parents dote on him, Sierra and Katooni vie for babysitting duties. Saw insists that "Baa!" is a legitimate attempt to say "Saw" and not a request for a bottle. Hero wonders if she and Hutch could have a biological child when Tav is older. Steela easily fills the role of "the cool aunt." Saw is right by her side as "the cool uncle," but Tandin and Rex are just as guilty as the Gerreras when it comes to Tav getting away with murder.

He will grow up surrounded by his loving parents, his grandma, his cousin Katooni and his many aunts and uncles, but there is one who watches him closer than any other.

That one is his guardian angel, his grandfather the good man, watching down from the heavens with a smile on his face.

 **A/N: After the loss of one crew member comes another…the baby is born!**

 **If you didn't already notice, this story is marked "Complete". I will probably write another story in this series, as I can't seem to put this AU down, but it will definitely take a while before that one comes out.**

 **Thank you to starwarshobbitfics, StarwarsRulz, and Beth for your reviews. And speaking of which, please leave a review on your way out. Reviews = new story, yes?**

 **Until next time,**

 **Lux's Sister**


End file.
